Police carry out a scene examination in Kaihu, Northland, after a woman was found dead at a property on Tuesday. Photo / RNZ
By RNZ
A resident says there have been multiple complaints about dogs roaming in the area and chasing people before the death of a woman in Kaihu, Northland.
Emergency services were called to a property on State Highway 12 at 11.25am on Tuesday.
Upon arrival, police found a woman dead.
Kaipara District Council’s animal management team confirmed it had responded to an incident involving dogs and a person at a property on Tuesday and was now investigating.
The dogs had been secured.
“At this stage we’re unable to provide any further details or comment while a response and investigation is underway.”
Police were carrying out a scene examination and said there was no risk to the public in relation to the incident.
A resident told RNZ there were complaints about dogs in the area made by multiple people but nothing had been done about the problem.
They said the dogs had been at the property for about a year.
In that time, they said they’d complained to Kaipara District Council about the dogs at least four times.
“There’s been so many complaints about them in the last year – the council know and haven’t done anything.
“They run out on to the road all the time. I was really scared about that and somebody getting hurt.”
They believed what had happened could have been avoided.
The resident also said the dogs from that property ran after cars, motorbikes and pushbikes when they came down the road.
The area was part of the Kaihu Valley cycle trail and the resident said tourists were often the ones on bikes on the road.
They said a few months ago they’d heard of a couple who’d had to turn around on the road because of the dogs.
“I just don’t know how they can promote it [cycle trail] knowing there’s a dog problem down here.”
Checkpoint asked Kaipara District Council for a response to the resident’s comments.
A spokesperson said the council “can’t provide any further information or comment on this incident while an investigation is underway”.
“Our staff are actively working with police now to understand the sequence of events and what occurred on the property today,” the spokesperson said.
Hato Hone St John confirmed an ambulance and helicopter were called to the scene at 11.22am but referred further queries to police.
The incident comes amid growing calls for an overhaul of dog control laws.
Local Government Minister Simon Watts said he was asking officials for urgent advice.
Watts said people deserved to feel safe in their neighbourhoods and should not have to carry clubs or bats when they left their homes.
He said the Department of Internal Affairs was working on the issue with local councils to improve dog control and new guidelines are expected in the second half of the year.
Meanwhile, a Northlander whose relative was killed by dogs said today’s incident showed people needed to take dog ownership more seriously.
Bay of Islands-Whangaroa Community Board member Roddy Hapati Pihema’s aunt was killed by dogs in 2023.
“This is just unbelievable. There have been a lot of lives taken by dogs, it’s concerning that this issue hasn’t been prioritised as much as it should be. We still have dogs running around on the streets, we still have dogs running through recreation reserves,” he said.
“This continues to be a really concerning space considering we’re not actually learning from the people being mauled, the people who have been unfortunate to lose their lives. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done,” Pihema said.
“The majority of people do [understand the risk of dogs] but there’s quite a large number out there that like to have the puppy but don’t want the responsibility of the dog.”
He said the council was doing what it could to tackle the issue, but there was little it could do if owners didn’t take responsibility.
A Whangārei woman who is trying to change animal ownership laws said she was heartbroken to learn of another fatal dog attack in her region.
Tracy Clarke said: “My heart absolutely sunk and tears welled up because this has been going on now for far too long, too many people are losing their lives as a result of dog attacks.”
She had a petition before a select committee to strengthen dog ownership laws.
“The current legislation is out of date and needs to be brought up to today’s dog population and the difference in ownership,” she said.
The petition seeks substantial changes to the dog ownership legislation and council bylaws, in order to end the problem of roaming dogs in New Zealand.
“We’re at crisis point as a nation and it needs to be sorted urgently.”
- RNZ