Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

The curious case of the dog in the car

By melissa.nightingale@wanganuichronicle.co.nz
Whanganui Chronicle·
3 Aug, 2016 01:12 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Mystery surrounds a Whanganui East woman's discovery of her smashed car window and a dog sitting in the back seat.

Mystery surrounds a Whanganui East woman's discovery of her smashed car window and a dog sitting in the back seat.

The dog's owner died last year, and an animal control officer said it was not known where the dog has been since, or how it ended up in the car.

Car owner Kataraina Cobain does not know if whoever smashed the window put the dog inside - there are scratch marks underneath and above the window, but the dog had no fresh injuries from broken glass.

Stranger still, nothing was stolen from the car, despite handbags, a cellphone, an MP3 player, a head unit, and a Navman being inside the car.

"I got up and went out to my car, which is parked outside my house on the road," Cobain said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I first noticed that the window was broken."

The dog's owner died last year and it is not known where the dog has been since.  Photo / supplied
The dog's owner died last year and it is not known where the dog has been since. Photo / supplied

When she went to unlock the car, she spotted the dog, which looked like it had recently had puppies.

Cobain said the dog was "not aggressive, sort of just like more, like, happy to see me".

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"She just looked tired, I felt sorry for her."

She called animal control to collect the dog.

"The animal control guy said that he doesn't think that whoever smashed the window put the dog in there, only because there was scratch marks on the roof and scratch marks under the window."

The officer told her the dog had injuries on its back, but they did not look fresh. It did not look like the dog had been in the car overnight as it hadn't made a mess.

Cobain posted a photo of the dog in the car on the Buy Sell Swap Wanganui Facebook page on Tuesday, and later received a text message from an unknown number saying "Got my dog bitch".

The person told Cobain they wanted the dog back, to which she replied the dog was at the pound.

The person said "I'll be back tonight", and Cobain told the person to "f*** up".

"You will be," they replied.

Cobain did not know what the comment meant, and despite trying to ring the number, has had no luck.

She said her phone number was new and she had only given it out to a few people, so didn't know how the person got her number.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Facebook users also tried calling the number and reportedly reached a "girl", who hung up upon realising what they were calling about.

"I don't know anyone who wants to go out of their way to take time out of their day to do this to me," Cobain said.

"I still can't get my head around it."

She said she couldn't be bothered reporting the incident to the police.

"I know that I should but whoever it was, they haven't been back."

The council's animal management team leader Jo Meiklejohn said the dog's owner died last year, and they did not know where it had been since.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"We ask that the person who has taken ownership of the dog please contact our animal management team on 349 0001 so the dog can be reunited with her home," a spokeswoman said.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

'Evocative tribute': Exhibition explores Whanganui's spiritual heritage

04 Jul 03:00 AM
Whanganui Chronicle

Central North Island feels impact of heavy rain

04 Jul 02:44 AM
Premium
Whanganui Chronicle

Tradie's remarkable revival of long-lost NZ clothing brand from his backyard shed

03 Jul 10:43 PM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

'Evocative tribute': Exhibition explores Whanganui's spiritual heritage

'Evocative tribute': Exhibition explores Whanganui's spiritual heritage

04 Jul 03:00 AM

Our Places of Worship is open every day until September 16 at Whanganui Regional Museum.

Central North Island feels impact of heavy rain

Central North Island feels impact of heavy rain

04 Jul 02:44 AM
Premium
Tradie's remarkable revival of long-lost NZ clothing brand from his backyard shed

Tradie's remarkable revival of long-lost NZ clothing brand from his backyard shed

03 Jul 10:43 PM
Thunderstorm risk for top half of the North Island, heavy rain watch for Wairoa
live

Thunderstorm risk for top half of the North Island, heavy rain watch for Wairoa

03 Jul 10:16 PM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP