Owners of several roaming dogs that were on a cat-killing spree and terrorising a South Auckland neighbourhood have been fined.
Residents of Conifer Grove in Takanini were devastated after several cats were found dead, attacked by a pack of dogs.
They counted up to 27 cats were killed in the past two months, raising the alarm that something needed to be done.
Animal Management stepped in and uplifted 13 dogs. There have been no complaints of attacks since the dogs were taken.
Team leader James Faulkner said seven of the dogs were released back to their owners, after they came forward to claim them.
The owners faced hefty fees, ranging from registration, shelter and infringement fees for breaches of the Dog Control Act 1996.
“Two fines [were] issued for failure to register, five for failure to control dogs,” Faulkner said.
“Six of the dogs were not collected by their owners and were considered unsafe to re-home, so were humanely euthanised.”
Resident Juniper White said the news that dog owners had been fined was a relief.
“Obviously a little sad that people have lost their pets, but that’s the consequence of improper dog ownership.”
White said she was concerned a tan dog was still on the loose, last sighted on her cameras on March 31.
However, she was “happy and relieved” the pack of dogs were gone.
“I keep my cats inside but they’ve got used to it by now. I haven’t seen stray cats around, as much as I used to, and there hasn’t been [social media] posts up of any more dead cats.”
Faulkner said Animal Management took a targeted approach to address the issue of roaming dogs in the Conifer Grove area.
This included twice daily patrols in the area, over a period of five weeks, by their newly established proactive team.
Animal Management also investigated 63 requests for service between February 12 and April 5, with all reports being treated as priority one requests.
“Actions in response to requests included patrolling to find dogs reported as roaming (including night time patrols), visiting addresses referred to us to identify dogs of concern and to speak with owners, and spending time speaking with (and even patrolling alongside) residents of Conifer Grove.”
Faulkner said multiple dog traps were set in the area to safely confine dogs found roaming at night, with one dog captured this way.
He said dog owners need to step up and take responsibility to ensure their dogs were controlled or contained at all times.
“This is the only way that we will start to see a reduction to this concerning trend.”
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air