‘Everyone can tell you a dog war story’ – Te Puna residents battle wandering dogs

Source: Radio New Zealand

A Te Puna resident says his grandchildren no longer walk around the small seaside town for fear of aggressive, roaming dogs.

Tommy Wilson, an author and grandfather, carries a golf club following dog attacks on the east side of Te Puna, on the outskirts of Tauranga.

One woman, who did not want to speak to Checkpoint, was attacked and bitten by a dog while out walking five years ago.

There had been two other minor attacks on a person and another dog reported to council in the past six months.

Wilson raised his concerns about wandering dogs in Te Puna before a fatal dog attack in Northland last Tuesday.

Mihiata Te Rore was attacked and killed by three dogs while visiting a property in Kaihu, north of Dargaville.

The 62-year-old is the fourth person killed by dogs in the past four years.

At the weekend a father was seriously injured while protecting his son from a dog attack at a property they were visiting in Christchurch. Both were hospitalised.

Last year, Auckland Council alone received almost 17,000 reports of roaming dogs and more than 1300 reports of dog attacks on people.

In Te Puna, Wilson said residents had been wrestling with an increasing number of aggressive dogs for years.

“I walk around the road with my trusty four-iron.”

Wilson said he had been forced to hit dogs.

“I’ll give them a good club and with my tokotoko. I’ll smack them… yeah I actually punched a dog in the face because that was the only way to get it to back off.

“It was just coming too close and snarling, baring the teeth, not looking cool. And I’m sure everyone can tell you a dog war story in this town.”

While Checkpoint was visiting Te Puna, a big dog wandered across the rugby club field, past our cameraman and up to a nearby playground where two mums were chatting with three young children in tow.

One mum pulled a toddler close and the other – carrying a baby – gave the dog a wide berth as it wandered around the playground before eventually trotting off in the direction it had come.

It was unclear who or where the dog’s owner was.

Wilson said he was not the only one to carry a weapon while out walking. He said a neighbour carried a large tokotoko (ceremonial walking stick).

“He refuses to stop walking. He’s one of the bravehearts and I see him walking all the time but he’s ready.”

Wilson worried he could only fend off one aggressive dog at a time with his golf club and feared for anyone caught unprepared.

“It’s when there’s more than one dog. That’s the problem and I’m reasonably fit even though I’m a koro, how does a little four, five, six-year-old child fend themselves off against one dog or a mother or an old kuia, a grandmother – they’ve got no show.”

While there were no dogs on Te Puna Beach, where Wilson said dogs roamed in packs, there were dozens of paw prints.

“You can see, look, there’s dog prints there, dog prints there. If it’s just one set of footprints it’s okay but if you see more than a set of footprints it’s usually time to u-turn and go back and go home.”

Wilson questioned the need for aggressive dogs as he pointed out a number of known roaming dogs.

He believed they were partly owned to guard against crime.

Wilson, who grew up in Te Puna and moved back to the area to raise his children, said when they were young they “free-ranged” around the town.

However, he said it was different now and his moko did not feel safe walking alone.

He said they were driven to school – which was not the local one – and would not walk 300 metres to their local marae because they were scared.

“(There’s) usually a big bad dog sitting outside here. He’s okay for the people that live close but he’s the one that chases and bites our car tyres and our kids are totally freaked out by him – he’s huge.”

Te Puna School principal Neil Towersey said wandering dogs sometimes appeared in the playground.

“Some of the children are terrified. I get a patter tennis bat and a cone or something noisy – go out and give it a bit of a clatter and a bang and do my best impression to scare them off and they usually take off with their tail between their legs.”

He said hunting dogs were particularly intimidating for the children.

“Some of them have had bad experiences with dogs. We’ve got a little boy at the moment who’s absolutely terrified of dogs so it’s something we’re a little bit mindful of.”

Towersey said that boy had been bitten by a dog.

He said the school had taught children about dog safety and he believed the Dog Control Act “needs tightening up”.

At the town tennis courts, a German Shepherd wandered about while opposite the chapel, a dog sat and watched from afar before retreating home.

Jade, who did not want her surname used, had four dogs in her care at the town rugby field.

She said she did not live in Te Puna but went there regularly and never usually encountered aggressive dogs.

“We’ve come across some dogs that don’t look very friendly but I can call mine back and they just come straight back and I’ve never had any dog attacks or dog attack me out here so that’s promising, touch wood.

Jade said she fostered rescue dogs for a charity and the four dogs with her were not hers.

She was unsure what breeds they were.

Jade said it was not a dog’s fault if it was aggressive and it was up to owners to raise and socialise their dogs responsibly.

She recommended anyone who came across an aggressive dog should not run away or show fear.

Wilson said he wanted a community effort to change attitudes, incentivise responsible dog owners and support struggling owners to provide appropriate care for their dogs.

“Let’s not leave it up to the people who don’t care. We care and we want to do something about it.

“Hey, why should the dogs have the best beach in the world? How about us? We want our beach back.”

Western Bay of Plenty councillor and Te Puna resident Graeme Elvin said there was no doubt roaming dogs were a problem in Te Puna.

However, he believed it was a localised issue and said it had to be solved by a change in behaviour.

“It isn’t solved by throwing a whole lot of money at the problem.”

Elvin said he met with the council’s dog control officers on Tuesday to discuss the concerns and was impressed with their efforts.

Council general manager of regulatory services Alison Curtis declined a interview, but in a statement said during the past six months the council had received 19 complaints about roaming dogs in the area, and two complaints about dog attacks – one involving a person and one involving another dog.

She said both attacks were minor.

“Based on general observations, these numbers are low to average, compared with the rest of the district.”

Curtis said some of the complaints related to dogs roaming on the sports fields.

“In response, animal services officers visited the fields several times over a two-week period in November and December, while the fields were in use.

“As a result of these visits, one dog was impounded.”

Curtis said since then the council had only received three reports of roaming dogs in the area, which made up part of the 19.

“Council can only act on issues we are made aware of, so we ask people to please report any concerns by calling us on 0800 926 732.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand