Pig dogs savage Masterton pet

RECOVERING: Breck Stewart with Thor, who is recovering after surgery following an attack by a pack of pig dogs two weeks ago. PHOTO/CHERIE TAYLOR

A Masterton man whose pet dog was seriously injured after being attacked by a pack of pig dogs wants their owner banned from walking them and has laid a formal complaint with Masterton District Council.

Breck Stewart was walking his and his partner Anneke Wolterbeek's two dogs when his pet German shepherd Thor was subjected to a "frenzied" attack from a pack of uncontrollable pig dogs.

Mr Stewart was on rural Northcroft Rd when the dog attack happened leaving 4-year-old Thor with serious injuries requiring urgent surgery and Mr Stewart nursing bite marks.

The couple are calling for the owner of the pack of pig dogs to be banned from walking his dogs on the public road. Many dog walkers, joggers and children use the same route, they say.

Only the weekend before the attack, the couple and a group with about 15 dogs walked the same route without incident.

Mr Stewart, a police officer, said he was walking Thor and Gisa back to his car when they were confronted by a pack of around "eight" pig dogs as they rounded a bend and the dogs suddenly began fighting Thor.

Masterton District Council has told the Times-Age staff are investigating the attack but officers have been told only four dogs were involved.

Dogs were a pack animal and this pack took an "instant dislike" to Thor, Mr Stewart said.

"There were at least seven dogs. They just latched on to Thor."

He grabbed Thor by the collar, but the dogs kept attacking and Mr Stewart got thrown to the ground landing on top of Thor while the other dog Gisa just stood back watching the attack. "It was a pack frenzy," he said.

Four dogs latched on to Thor, biting and ripping a chunk off his ear, causing internal injuries and injuries to his head, all four legs and chest - Mr Stewart was also bitten in several places.

Mr Stewart said the pig dogs' owner couldn't control them.

" He'd pull one off and the others would jump in and keep going."

It was a frightening few minutes, he said.

"There were at least four of them attacking while another four or so circled us," he said.

The owner of the pig dogs ran back to his bike and grabbed a chain which he hit the dogs with to get them off Mr Stewart and his dog.

Thor was rushed to a vet clinic and into surgery and may now have a permanent limp.

Ms Wolterbeek said Thor was depressed.

"He just isn't himself any more."

The couple made a formal complaint to Masterton District Council and while staff have contacted Ms Wolterbeek, Mr Stewart is still waiting to speak with someone.

He said he had heard of other incidents involving the same pack of dogs and people were now too afraid to walk the paper road with their dogs, fearing they, too, will be attacked.

Mr Stewart has spoken to other people who were on the road around the same time, including a doctor, who saw the pack of dogs and can attest to how many dogs were involved.

Masterton District Council's chief executive Wes ten Hove said staff were investigating the incident but there were "clearly two very different sides to this story".

Any investigation had to take into account all the circumstances before the council determined the appropriate course of action, he said.