Dogs seized after alpaca attacked

UPSET: Brian and Christine Angliss are distressed over dogs killing and injuring alpacas and other animals on their Ngunguru lifestyle block. PHOTO/MICHAEL CUNNINGHAM

Two dogs suspected of killing an alpaca on a lifestyle block near Ngunguru have been seized at Maungakaramea by animal control officers and could be destroyed.

The incident is the latest of a string of attacks on animals on Brian and Christine Angliss's 28ha Tongatu Rd property.

An alpaca had to be shot after being mauled by a marauding dog in 2010, and in 2011 an alpaca and Welsh mountain pony were savaged by dogs and a goose was killed.

Other rural properties in the area have also been subjected to dog attacks over the same period causing some land owners to carry guns and arousing fears for birds in a local kiwi conservation zone.

Mr Angliss, 69, is a former car manufacturer who with his wife moved to New Zealand from the UK 10 years ago. They have built a large home on their Ngunguru site where they run a few cattle and keep pets including alpacas, llamas, guanacos, donkeys, rare Cape Barren geese and three house dogs.

Since dog attacks on their stock began they have erected a tall fence along their Tongatu Rd boundary, which includes a buried metal barrier for extra protection on their border.

The latest dog attack came to light after Mr Angliss was summoned to his front gate at 7.30am on Friday by a man looking for two pig dogs missing from a neighbouring property.

Mr Angliss let his dogs out of the house and soon after saw them chasing two large dogs toward a neighbour's place. His distressed wife then told him their Alpaca named Peppermint had been "ripped to pieces".

He confronted the owner of the two pig dogs at the neighbouring property, seeking $1000 compensation for the dead alpaca or permission to shoot the dogs.

The man left with his dogs after Mr Angliss agreed to give him two weeks to "put things right".

A woman living at the property told the Advocate the man was a visitor whom her partner had invited to stay last Thursday night.

Mr Angliss then went to see Peppermint and was horrified to find the alpaca part-eaten.

Angry, he resolved to get the dogs' owner prosecuted and try to get dogs banned from the neighbour's property. He called Environmental Northland. The two dogs found at Maungakaramea were impounded on Monday, although he didn't want the dogs destroyed as "it's the owner to blame, not them". The dogs' owner could not be contacted for comment.