Long haul for 31 dogs snatched from Whangārei: Police and SPCA investigating

A Northland couple came home one day to find their 31 Cavalier King Charles spaniels and Cavoodles gone. They were later told the dogs were with an animal charity in Wellington called Helping You Help Animals (HUHANZ). Graphic / NZME

Police and the SPCA are investigating the disappearance of a large group of dogs from Northland.

The SPCA is looking into allegations that the dogs came from a puppy farm.

Police say they are in the early stages of investigating the disappearance of 15 dogs that went missing from a Mangapai property, 19km south of Whangārei, earlier this month.

“Police are making inquiries into their disappearance, including the possibility that the dogs were stolen,” a police statement said.

Police were unable to comment further due to their active investigation.

After their disappearance the dogs ended up, more than 700km away, at Wellington-based animal charity group Helping You Help Animals (Huhanz), who made the puppy farm allegations.

Huhanz claimed they had the dogs – 31 of them. Police were unable to explain the discrepancy in the number of dogs.

Huhanz claimed 10 puppies were among the canines, dubbed the Whangārei 31.

The charity said it did not condone the alleged snatching of the dogs from the remote, rural Northland property without authority or permission. However, it believed it was done with the dogs’ best interests at heart.

The incident first came to light when a relative of the couple posted about the missing dogs, in an appeal for information on their whereabouts, on social media. In her post the relative said the Cavalier King Charles and Cavoodle dogs and puppies went missing while the grandparents were in Auckland for cancer treatment.

“It has been a very difficult time for my grandparents lately and these dogs are their babies, please we are desperate for any info at all, it’s hard not to assume the worst.”

Huhanz co-founder and chief executive Carolyn Press McKenzie believed it wasn’t a “premeditated burglary” but that the people who uplifted the dogs had visited the property for another reason for the first time that day. They found no one home, saw what looked like a concerning puppy farming situation and panicked. They phoned friends to help them remove the dogs, she believed.

Carolyn Press-McKenzie co-founder and CEO of Helping You Help Animals. Photo / Warren Buckland

“They didn’t call the SPCA (we wish they had, as the SPCA hold all the power in these situations), they simply reacted by grabbing the dogs and running,” McKenzie claimed.

The people had tried ringing some local agencies, which weren’t in a position to help at that time so they called Huhanz, she said.

“We agreed to take them because we didn’t want to see them separated, or given away, or just disappearing,” McKenzie said.

She immediately “jumped on a plane” from Wellington to Auckland, where she got a cargo van to drive the dogs to Wellington.

McKenzie said she wouldn’t be able to identify the people who’d contacted her – she was in a carpark in the dark when she was handed the dogs.

Relatives of the owners arrived in Wellington on Monday to retrieve the dogs. Huhanz said it was “gutted” to see the dogs go but it had been told by police it must surrender them.

Strangers arrived at a Mangapai couple's remote, rural, home when they were away and unlawfully took 31 dogs and puppies. Graphic / NZME and Google

McKenzie said a Huhanz vet had examined each of the dogs, which “were in a general state of neglect, ungroomed, fleas, ear-mites with five of the bitches carrying more serious issues like bilateral Pannus, dry eye, luxating patellas, skin conditions and a heart issue”.

Since the dogs were recovered, Huhanz has continued to voice its concerns about them on its Facebook page. The group also posted photographs and a video it claimed showed the dogs’ medical conditions and living quarters. However, none of the images were independently verified.

Mckenzie claimed the charity tried unsuccessfully to reason with the dogs’ owners, asking them to retire from what they believed was a puppy farm. The owners denied it was a puppy farm, she said.

“We offered to desex all the dogs for free, as well as carry out patella surgeries and other treatments at no charge to them. We explained how much damage puppy farming caused and how we could help them wrap up their business, leaving them to relax with their treasured favourites and assisting them to rehome the rest.

“But they refused, and they denied being a puppy farm... could we please stop using that word!”

“And so the beautiful yet vulnerable dogs have gone, we are broken and upset, but we still have a whole lot of evidence and it’s heading to the SPCA.”

The charity also claimed some of the dogs were actually owned by a pet business, which also sold the puppies.

Huhanz said it was frustrating that authorities seldom shut down places of concern.

“Why do our bylaws even allow people to own that many dogs, let alone [all the] puppies that they aren’t required to disclose or register?”

The SPCA confirmed it had since received a complaint from Huhanz about the alleged puppy farm, which it was now investigating.

National Inspectorate manager Alan Wilson warned against people taking vigilante action saying it would “almost always compromise and hinder the [SPCA’s] legitimate investigative process”.

“Often the damage caused by unauthorised actions can be irreparable and impede our inspectors’ efforts to obtain justice for the animals concerned.

“SPCA inspectors have legislative powers to take appropriate actions when animal welfare concerns are received. The best way to help our inspectors employ those powers is to contact SPCA.”

Whangārei District Council said it and its dog control staff did not have any powers relating to dog breeding operations. However, all dog owners in the district were subject to the Dog Management Bylaw and Policy and the provisions of the Dog Control Act 1996. Matters of animal welfare were referred to the SPCA.

There was no limit to the number of dogs people could house on a property. All dogs had to be registered by 6 months old.

The Advocate approached several vets and the New Zealand Vet Association along with the family involved but all declined to comment.

Sarah Curtis is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate focusing on a wide range of issues. She has nearly 20 years’ experience in journalism, much of which she spent court reporting. She is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.