The dogs reportedly roam Taipā Beach. Photo / Emma Liefting
A Northland woman suffered multiple puncture wounds during an attack by a pack of “dangerous”, roaming dogs on a Far North beach.
Last Wednesday, Kate Taylor-Reid parked her car at the far end of Taipā Beach and was walking along the accessway on to the beach when five dogs – four black and brown Staffordshire terriers and a white bulldog with a red collar – rushed up to her.
“Two latched on to my leg,” she said.
“The one attached to the top of my leg I tried to push away with my hand.
“I started screaming at the top of my lungs trying to get them to let go.”
Taylor-Reid said the dogs let go after about 30 seconds and ran off.
Two people were walking along the beach at the time, but did not try to help, she said.
“I was surprised they didn’t hear it, the dogs were barking, and I was screaming as loud as I could.”
Two of the staffies latched on to her leg biting her causing puncture wounds to her upper thigh. She suffered bruising, swelling and cuts to her arms and hands as she desperately tried to fend them off.
Following the attack, Taylor-Reid phoned her friends who drove her to Kaitāia Hospital, where her wounds were cleaned up and she received a tetanus shot and painkillers.
The 42-year-old project co-ordinator said something urgently needed to be done about the dogs to stop them from attacking again.
The canines roam in a pack and are known to locals who say they avoid the area.
“This morning [Thursday], I was still crying and shaking, I’m still in shock,” Taylor-Reid said.
“There are more bruises coming out on my arms and ankles that I didn’t really notice at the time.”
Taylor-Reid, who moved to the area two weeks ago, said Far North District Council (FNDC) animal control officers visited her on Thursday and took a full report.
Her post on social media sparked numerous comments that the dogs had attacked others with some fearing someone may be killed.
Several residents wrote they didn’t walk along that part of the beach anymore.
The mauling of Taylor-Reid follows a year-on-year increase in dog attacks in the Far North District for the last four years.
“They are dangerous and should not be roaming the beach free,” she said.
“I was so lucky I got away; I feel grateful it wasn’t worse than it was.
“There will be children and tourists, the same as me, who go there and don’t know.”
There were 201 dog attacks on people, stock and domestic animals in the Far North in 2020/21, which increased to 229 attacks in 2021/22.
There were 257 attacks in 2022/23, and 278 attacks this year.
A council spokesman said animal management officers are investigating.
“At this stage, they have not established where the offending dogs have come from.
“They have been out again this morning talking to locals and going door to door.”
In November, two roaming dogs mauled 18 sheep and lambs to death on John and Lily Coleman’s property on the outskirts of Kaikohe.
That attack followed a series of similar dog attacks on their livestock resulting in two dozen deaths in 2022.
And in September, the Department of Conservation (DoC) said it had engaged sharp-shooting hunters to track down wild dogs in the Far North before the tramping season starts.
DoC was worried about the potential for trampers to be attacked while walking, given multiple sightings of feral dogs over the years.
Jenny Ling is a senior journalist at the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering human interest stories, along with roading, lifestyle, business, and animal welfare issues.