KEY POINTS:
Two men are likely to face charges over a dog attack on St Heliers beach that left a chihuahua with a broken spine.
The dog had to be destroyed.
Dog control officers also want to destroy an Alaskan malamute-Siberian husky cross thought to be responsible for the
injuries.
The chihuahua's owner, Danielle Morris says she wants mandatory dog training for anyone who wants to own a dog.
Last Wednesday evening Ms Morris' daughter Courtney Morris-Mailman, 10, took her dog, Senor, down to the beach with a couple of friends.
When she came out of the water, Senor was lying wrapped in a blanket and the 50kg malamute-husky cross was barking.
"I've never liked big dogs. When it came up to me I just backed away because I wasn't sure if it was going to bite me," said Courtney.
Both dogs were on leads, Ms Morris said. The larger dog approached Senor, which was sitting beside an adult, before attacking.
Courtney then had to keep her dog conscious as the group made their way to the vet.
But Senor had a punctured lung, fractured spine, internal bleeding and paralysis and had to be put down.
Ms Morris said it was upsetting that the cross could be destroyed when training might have meant the incident never occurred.
"Laws need to be harsher on dog owners to take responsibility for their animal's training.
"It's horrendous enough but what if it had been a baby sitting there instead of Senor?"
Auckland City Council animal control manager Clare Connell said investigations were continuing, and both the male who was walking the dog and the dog's owner were likely to face charges.
The dog's owner had consented to the animal being impounded but not to it being destroyed. However, the council is seeking a court order for the dog's destruction.
Ms Connell said mandatory dog training had been considered but never implemented. In this case it would have made a "huge difference".
"To be a responsible dog-owner you train your dog, you socialise it and then you supervise it at all times.
"From the sounds of it, the person who had the dog on a lead had no control over it. A dog of that size is very strong and things can happen very quickly."
She said the type of dog was bred for herding caribou and dragging sleds long distances so it needed ongoing obedience training.
