Northland Age
  • Northland Age home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Rural
  • Opinion
  • Kaitaia weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northland Age

Tourist describes shocking scene of animal cruelty in Far North

Sam Hurley
By Sam Hurley
NZ Herald Print Editor·NZ Herald·
7 Feb, 2017 04:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The SPCA are investigating a report of a dog being dragged along SH12 at the weekend.

The SPCA are investigating a report of a dog being dragged along SH12 at the weekend.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

The SPCA is investigating a report of a dog being dragged behind an SUV in the Far North at the weekend.

The horrific scene was witnessed by Werner Roos, who lives in Auckland, and was holidaying in the small coastal town of Rawene during the weekend with his fiancee.

What he saw just after midday on Saturday, while driving along State Highway 12 in Waimamaku, shocked him.

"I saw a person dragging a dog behind his car," he told the Herald.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"It was on its stomach with its back legs dragging, with its head in the air."

He said the dog had a lead tied to its neck, which was attached to the towbar of the silver SUV. He estimated the vehicle was travelling about 60km.

The driver was leaving the highway and turning into unsealed Ambler Rd, when Roos was driving past.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"It looked like a light brown pit bull. I stopped as fast as I could and turned to confront him, but I believe he saw me stopping and he drove away fast."

After giving chase, Roos said he believed the driver turned into one of the first driveways along Ambler Rd.

"I did drive at quite some pace to the end of the road and at that point the gate was closed and no dust in the air."

Roos said he considered walking on to the private properties to find the driver but decided it was a job best left to the police.

Discover more

New Zealand

Dog-dragging incident: 'Horrible accident'

09 Feb 07:10 AM

"I didn't go in, because if you could do that to a dog imagine what they would do to a person," he said.

When driving back on the highway, Roos said he looked at the surface and saw what he thought was blood on the road.

"I am not sure how far the dog was being dragged before I saw it.

"I have played the image through in my head quite a few times and I can say for sure that it did look [dead] at that time.

"I also thought it could be a dead dog but I cannot think why anyone would drag a dead dog home if it was a pet. It makes no sense to me."

He said he drove to the nearest police station in Rawene to report what he saw and also left a voicemail message with police.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

A police spokeswoman confirmed police received the phone message and were today making further inquiries.

Roos said he had also alerted the SPCA.

Bay of Islands SPCA centre manager John Logie said an inspector was investigating.

"We're doing everything we possibly can to find the dog and the person responsible for this.

"We're urging anyone who witnessed this, or has any more information about the case please call us urgently on (09) 407 7515. Any information will be kept strictly confidential."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northland Age

Northland Age

Blueprint for the future: Kerikeri's new strategic growth plan adopted

26 Jun 01:00 AM
Northland Age

'No benefit': Dentist challenges fluoride use in water debate

25 Jun 06:00 PM
Northland Age

Far North news briefs: NRC rates to increase, build your digital knowledge

25 Jun 05:00 PM

Kaibosh gets a clean-energy boost in the fight against food waste

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northland Age

Blueprint for the future: Kerikeri's new strategic growth plan adopted

Blueprint for the future: Kerikeri's new strategic growth plan adopted

26 Jun 01:00 AM

The council adopted Te Pātukurea to guide growth in Kerikeri and Waipapa.

'No benefit': Dentist challenges fluoride use in water debate

'No benefit': Dentist challenges fluoride use in water debate

25 Jun 06:00 PM
Far North news briefs: NRC rates to increase, build your digital knowledge

Far North news briefs: NRC rates to increase, build your digital knowledge

25 Jun 05:00 PM
'A sadistic flavour': Paedophile's jail time extended after more predatory offending revealed

'A sadistic flavour': Paedophile's jail time extended after more predatory offending revealed

25 Jun 07:00 AM
Engage and explore one of the most remote places on Earth in comfort and style
sponsored

Engage and explore one of the most remote places on Earth in comfort and style

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northland Age e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to The Northland Age
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northland Age
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP