Hunter was killed at this spot, while chained up overnight in his owner's backyard in Kaikohe. Photo / Jenny Ling
Hunter was killed at this spot, while chained up overnight in his owner's backyard in Kaikohe. Photo / Jenny Ling
A Kaikohe family is heartbroken after pet Labrador Hunter was savagely mauled to death on their property by a roaming dog while they slept.
Hunter was chained to his kennel in the Pedro family's backyard, which is partially fenced, when the attack happened in the early hours of December 29.
The family are now calling for the dog's owner to surrender it to the pound and for other dog owners to be vigilant and keep their animals safe.
"We are absolutely devastated and can't really comprehend how another dog could do this to our beautiful loving dog," Roberta Pedro said.
"We're heartbroken. Surely the dog who killed Hunter would have been covered in blood. It needs to be taken to the pound to be put down. It's violent and vicious; obviously it won't be the first time or the last time this has happened and it's going to kill something again."
Roberta's 19-year-old daughter Aaliyah woke to the sound of dog fighting at about 5.30am and ran out on to the decking to see what the commotion was about.
"I could hear the dogs fighting, it was really loud. I could hear Hunter crying.
"I couldn't see as it was still dark, but I knew he was in trouble, so I ran outside.
"I chucked something at the dog, and it let go for a second and started again so I ran to the car and beeped the horn and then it ran away. It was scary."
The Pedro family are devastated Hunter was mauled to death by a stray dog while chained to his kennel in Kaikohe. Photo / supplied
Aaliyah said the dog looked a similar size to Hunter and was a dark brown colour. She couldn't identify the breed.
Aaliyah then alerted her parents, who hadn't heard anything as their bedroom was further away from the backyard and their windows were closed.
"By the time we got outside he was already dead," Roberta said.
"There was blood around his neck and head area and his legs.
"We didn't even hear it, we're just lucky the dog didn't attack her [Aaliyah] because we wouldn't have heard a thing."
The incident comes after a number of serious dog attacks in the Far North.
In June two children were attacked by roaming dogs in Moerewa leaving an 11-year-old girl hospitalised with leg and back injuries, while the 15-year-old boy had to be treated for bites to one arm and his legs and back.
In October Mavis Downing's chihuahua Jessy was mauled by two off-leash Staffordshire terriers at the beach at Taipa Point.
Roberta said Hunter was a "friendly and lovely" dog.
The family were looking after him for their daughter Sana, who is studying at Otago University and has had Hunter since he was a puppy.
Sana - who was with the family recently and returned to Dunedin two days before the attack - is "absolutely devastated" about the incident, Roberta said.
"We see roaming dogs down the road, but I'm gobsmacked," Roberta said.
"I can't comprehend how another dog would do that and come on to another property and kill. It's obviously been trained to kill.
"People need to be vigilant and watch their dogs. We have a fence behind our house, but you need to be able to keep dogs out of your property. We wouldn't get another dog here in Kaikohe unless we had it fully fenced, given what's happened."
The attack has been reported to the Far North District Council.
