Whakatāne District Council community regulation manager Carl Redaelli said the dog control team was aware of the situation and was currently investigating.
“However, we have never been able to formally identify the dog or dogs as the description of the dogs varies.”
The Beacon spoke to the owner of the most recent cat to be attacked, Tracy Powley, who lives in the Apanui Ave area. She has had her cat, Mika, for nine years, and he was attacked in the wee hours of December 18.
“It was maybe two or three in the morning on Sunday. I slept through it, but my husband heard a commotion. When I got up in the morning there was cat fur everywhere and I didn’t see the cat all day, which is very unlike him.
“I thought, well, he’s gone, but then he showed up at about 10.30pm with really bad injuries. We took him to the emergency vet and she cleaned him up and gave him pain relief.
“I took him back to the vet on Monday morning so they could sedate him and have a proper look. Then she called me and pretty much said, ‘even if we operate, he’s probably not going to survive’. So Mika had to be put to sleep.”
Powley posted on Facebook about the attack and has since been contacted by the council dog control officer.
“She said that they are investigating it because it has been going on for months but nothing could really be done because nobody has really seen the attacks happen.”
Powley said her husband had described the dogs to the council. One was black with a white chest and the other brindle, “but it was dark and they were running” so he could not give a more precise description.
“We’ve got photos and a report from both vets that we have sent to the council.”
She’s been talking to other people who have had animals killed and some have film footage of the dogs.
“I actually got a message from a lady who thought she was the dog’s owner. She apologised and said she was looking at building higher fences. But I don’t think that is going to fix it. They need to be inside or in a kennel. Hopefully, they can do something about it.”
Redaelli said for his team to uplift any dog they needed to be 100 per cent sure and confident they had positively identified the dog that had killed the pets.
“We understand incidents like this can be upsetting for people and owners, but we want to assure the public we are going through all evidence that has been given to us so far and doing everything in our power to identify the owner or owners of the dogs responsible.
“We have stepped up patrols in the areas concerned and have dog traps out to try and catch the dogs.”
He said with any active investigation it was important to remember the council could not proceed with a prosecution or act against a person without sufficient evidence to support the crime.
“Unfortunately, Facebook commentary on community notice pages don’t carry the same weight in the court of law, and it can be difficult to land a prosecution with only this to go on.”
Anyone with information who can help identify the dog and its dog owner are encouraged to contact the 24/7 animal control officers on 07 3060500. All information given to council and the identity of the complainant are kept strictly confidential.
