Roaming dogs in Whakatāne kill cats, residents urge action

Stormy, who was mauled to death on Monday, is the latest victim of a string of recent dog attacks in Whakatāne.

The owner of a cat fatally mauled by roaming dogs this week has been horrified to learn that her pet is not the only victim of dogs in Whakatāne.

Whakatāne District Council dog control officers say they have impounded eight dogs over the past 10 days and are encouraging people to make formal complaints when they see roaming dogs, rather than post about them on social media.

Trinaka Godsmark-Tawa’s cat Stormy was found dead on Monday morning.

The James St resident had been getting ready for work just after 5am when she heard loud and aggressive barking that lasted five minutes.

A neighbour told her he had just chased away three dogs outside his house, and one of them had a cat in its mouth.

With the help of the neighbour, Godsmark-Tawa went in search of Stormy and found him mauled to death about six houses away.

She posted about the attack on social media and soon learned that, just minutes before Stormy was killed, a nearby Riverside Drive resident had chased away three dogs that had been terrorising the resident’s cat.

The dogs - one described as a husky and another as light-coloured - had been seen coming from Awatapu lagoon.

Local Democracy Reporting has verified that at least four other cats have been attacked by dogs in Whakatāne this year.

One incident in Whakatāne’s south three weeks ago was witnessed by the cat’s owner and her two preschool children.

This 14-year-old cat is still recovering from cuts inflicted by two dogs that attacked it three weeks ago in front of the owner’s two preschool daughters.

The woman, who did not want to be named for fear of repercussions, said her 2-year-old daughter had been feeding the cat when it was grabbed by two dogs.

She describes one as a husky-type dog and the other as a tall, cream-coloured pitbull or staffie mix.

“It could have been [my daughter] they attacked,” she said.

It happened just before 7am while the cat waited for his food on the front doorstep.

“I opened the front door to let my 2-year-old put the food down and, all of a sudden, the cat was swiped from her feet.

“I quickly ushered [the girls] back inside and shut the door. They watched out of the window as I chased after the dogs.

“So, they were watching as [the cat] was being ripped by two dogs, one on each side.”

The 14-year-old cat survived, but is on antibiotics and still limping, the owner said.

“He has some very big lacerations on his back.”

The children were now frightened to go outside their front door.

“They’ve only ever known this cat as their baby. Now I’ve had to carry them to and from the car. They won’t go out on the front porch any more.”

She urged people to call dog control as soon as they saw any dogs roaming.

A dog control officer told her there had been multiple reports of the same dog, she said.

Local Democracy Reporting also heard from a Hinemoa St resident whose cat was attacked by dogs a few weeks ago. It also survived, but spent a week at the veterinary clinic.

Two other cat owners have posted on social media that their cats were killed by dogs in January.

Godsmark-Tawa would like to see more dog control officers patrolling the area as it’s not the first time it’s happened in the area.

The injured 14-year-old cat is on antibiotics and still limping, its owner said.

“It’s unfair that we have had to bury our cat because someone can’t keep their dogs in their own gate.”

The council is currently advertising for a dog control officer on its careers website.

Whakatāne-Ōhope ward councillor Nāndor Tanczos said roaming dogs were an ongoing problem, not only in town but in other parts of the district, and one that the council took seriously.

“In the last Long-Term Plan, we voted for more staff for animal control. One of the difficulties is that staff can’t be everywhere all the time ... so it does rely a lot on people contacting the council when they see it happening.

“Any help with identifying the dogs is encouraged, such as taking photographs or videos.

“Often the animal is gone by the time staff get there. It’s not very easy to identify individual dogs.

“The council staff are really good people, and I think they are genuinely trying to do their best with the challenges that they’ve got.”

Tanczos said most dog owners were responsible, but a few needed to stop their dogs escaping.

Other issues were whether dog control officers had the powers they needed under the council’s bylaws, and how many dog control staff were needed.

“People want more dog control staff, but also people complain that there’s too many staff at council. We can do that, if that’s what the community wants, but people have to say how much extra they are prepared to pay in rates for that to happen.”

Animal control team leader Verna Kinney said the council had received one formal complaint regarding a dog attack on a cat in the James St area.

“As this matter is under active investigation, we are unable to comment further.”

Since April 20, it had received 20 service requests about roaming dogs in the Whakatāne township, with several reports relating to the same incidents.

She urged people to report sightings of roaming dogs as soon as possible but, for safety reasons, not to approach unattended dogs.

- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.