'Without her I wouldn't be here'

Melanie Donne says she owes her life to her German shepherd Nikki and is now fighting to save the dog from cancer.

Eight years after Nikki dragged Ms Donne to safety from a car wreck, the Wanganui woman is pulling out all the stops to keep her beloved pet alive.

The pair have headed to Auckland where Nikki will undergo treatment, including canine chemotherapy, to fight the bone cancer diagnosed two months ago.

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Dog kills flock of sheep

A dog has killed Tuakau resident Terry Smith's entire flock of sheep.
On the night of November 15 a dog killed twelve sheep on his small 0.8ha farm.
The Smiths' neighbour, Danielle Bennett, says the following evening Terry heard splashing and barking from down near his pond.

He flicked on an outside light from the house and saw a dog running away.

Rushing down to the commotion he found the remaining two of his flock dead.
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Dog killed by toxic algae in Hutt River

A distraught Wellington dog owner performed cardiac massage on his dog in a desperate attempt to revive the animal when it collapsed after a swim in the Hutt River.
Despite his efforts, Richard Nicholls' six-year-old Labrador cross, Maggie, died after a dip in the river on Sunday.

Dog owners had been warned to keep their animals out of the water after tests revealed high levels of a bacterial alga.

However, Mr Nicholls said neither he nor his wife were aware of the warning before taking their four dogs to the river. "If we had been aware we wouldn't have gone there."
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hey, they should have read Doglinks' news... it was on here long before the media got a hold of it!!

Dog attacked at home; 'Huge brown' dog jumps fence and eludes animal control

One little chihuahua is lucky to be alive after being attacked by another dog at his own property this week.

Owner Yvonne Taylor said 9-year-old Barty was in the fenced-in garden going about his "morning constitutional" when she heard a "scream" .

"I tore out the front and here was this big dog that had a hold of him." Mrs Taylor yelled at the dog, which she described as "a huge brown thing" , and it turned as if it was about to attack her. She picked up a piece of wood and threw it at the dog, which made it jump the fence, she said.
She then took Barty inside and called the Invercargill City Council dog control, which put her in touch with a dog ranger, before taking her beloved pet to a vet for treatment.
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Pets linked to health

Having cats, dogs and canaries to stay could help keep the doctor away.

Pets may one day feature in healthy heart regimes as evidence grows in support of their benefits for cardiac health, researchers say.

Animal ownership is linked with reduced risk of heart disease, lower use of GP services and reduced asthma among children. Pets may even provide better emotional and social support than humans, the researchers wrote in a British Medical Journal report.
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Of course, we knew dogs helped us health-wise... long known for their therapetic ways

Pig hunters abhor 'shoot first' approach

Tairua-based Environment Waikato councillor Arthur Hinds is bringing farming into disrepute through his actions in shooting pig hunters' dogs.

That's the view of Colin Harris, vice-president of the Whitianga Pig Hunters Club, who reckons while his colleagues may have their faults, they abhor the "shoot first, ask questions later" methods of Mr Hinds, who has shot nine dogs on or near his kiwi conservation zone land.

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'I won't hesitate to shoot dogs'

Environment Waikato Councillor Arthur Hinds has shot another two pig dogs near his Tairua farm.

It takes to nine the number of dogs Mr Hinds has killed on or near his property in recent years.
Police ruled Mr Hinds was within his rights to shoot pig hunters' dogs in April on Tairua land designated part of the Whenuakite kiwi zone.

And the conservationist and justice of the peace - labelled "Rambo" by pig hunters in August - is making no apologies. (click on title to read more)

A quick word with The Dog from Footrot Flats

20.11.05
By Graham Reid


The beloved Kiwi hit 80s animated movie, Footrot Flats, is finally out on DVD. But Graham Reid found The Dog took some tracking down: calls to his agent requesting an interview went unreturned; Footrot Flats creator Murray Ball was "unavailable for comment" and a casting agency known to have worked with The Dog sent a statement which was blunt and to the point, "The Dog was yesterday, and yesterday's gone".

Then one day the phone rang, it was The Dog and he was ready to talk.

We met at his flat in Onehunga. He was overweight, unshaven and clearly the worse for a long night on the town - although he said he didn't get out much and preferred to do his socialising at home. He was drunk, but lucid.

Looking back at it, Footrot Flats should have been your big break - but it didn't work out like that. (click on title to read more)

Cute dogs not enough

MUST LOVE DOGS (M) Directed by Gary
David Goldberg **½ Reviewed by Margaret Agnew. Is there much overlap between Diane Lane fans and John Cusack fans? They both tend to make romantic comedies, albeit slightly different in tone, so it is possible, I suppose.

Lane has had a most unusual career. After a teenage Lane debuted in a film with Sir Laurence Olivier, he called her the new Grace Kelly, and Time magazine featured her on the front cover at the age of 14, declaring her the "new young acting sensation". Due to some unlucky career choices and some disenchantment with her chosen career, it was not until she was much older that she came near to fulfilling this early promise.

Owner wants death row dog Spook back

The original owner of Spook – the dog on death row – wants his "baby" back home with him.

"I miss him," Nigel Allen Halliday told the New Plymouth District Court on Wednesday.
Halliday, of Waitara, has already been prosecuted under the Dog Control Act with owning a dog that attacked a person.

He pleaded guilty to the charge and was fined $400. (click on title for more)

DNA test may cut disorders in dogs

New DNA testing for dogs may make finding the perfect pedigree pooch a lot easier.

Tests for inherited disorders in dogs are becoming increasingly available in New Zealand as international research continues. Testing is already available for a few specific conditions and breeders hope new tests may help to eliminate some disorders completely.

Two notable new tests are for Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA) – an eye condition – in miniature long-haired dachshunds and labradors, according to the New Zealand Kennel Club's inherited disorders sub-committee.

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Dog rescued from 'agonising death'

There's one very happy pooch at the Invercargill SPCA shelter at the moment.
A young male staffordshire-labrador cross was found by SPCA staff near Branxholme about two weeks ago, chained up in a remote area about 10 minutes from a road.

"He was left there to die and it would have been a slow, painful, agonising death," SPCA Invercargill shelter manager Dennis Mackie said yesterday.

Passerby drags woman and dog from burning car

A man has been hailed a highway hero after dragging a woman from her burning car wreck in Northland yesterday evening. Leon Kaipo smashed through a window and pulled the dazed driver and her dog from the vehicle after it crashed off State Highway 1 near Ruakaka about 6pm. (click on title to read more)

Canine lends an ear to allay woman's fear

A young dog has changed the life of her new owner, Ella Hebbard, 85, of Albert Town.
Mrs Hebbard cannot hear without her hearing aid.

The active widow is temporarily sharing her home with her son and daughter, Bruce and Alison, while they prepare to build a new house.

Mrs Hebbard was worried about not being able to hear smoke alarms when the couple moved out.

Dogs going to city

Palmerston North has scooped New Zealand's biggest doggy do - hosting the National Dog Show for the next two years.

Palmerston North Deputy Mayor John Hornblow said the city was delighted. It had spent millions of dollars redeveloping the Arena and it was good to see the investment paying off.

Mangled lamb is final straw

Lloyd Kiel is saving a bullet for the next dog that tries to attack his sheep.

Mr Kiel said the discovery of a mangled lamb on his family's 4ha lifestyle block at Raglan on Tuesday morning was the last straw, following three other stock killings on his family's Greenslade Rd property.

Dog owners bite back at council control plan

It's a dog of a draft policy and it's going back to the drawingboard.

One of the provisions that riled ratepayers was a new permit system for rural residents who own more than two non-working dogs. Under the draft, neighbours would have a say in the permit process.

Bernie McCulpha lives on rural Karakariki Rd with six border collie agility dogs. She said she moved to the country from Te Kauwhata 12 years ago so she could have more than a couple of dogs. "The move was in consideration of everybody – our neighbours, our dogs. There are a lot of people who have moved from residential or residential-rural areas so they can keep more dogs."

Another submitter, Fiona Ferrar, said under the draft policy neighbours could complain at will about the dogs. (more: click title)

Sheese, thank god for submitters, and the process. I hope they win!!

River poisons... be on the look out!

Dear All,

I almost lost Raven yesterday. While out for a walk at the Hutt River she started losing control of her legs. Within 5 minutes she was posturing and foaming at the mouth. After carrying her back to the car (Thank you Bronwen and Kevin for your help with this and for the support at the vets) she was rushed to the After Hours Vet.

The vet thought it might be 1080 and promoted vomitting and put her on an IV. I left her there. Around 10:30pm I called yet again (they knew my voice by the end of the evening) and she was singing in the cage in the background and I was told I could come and get her.

It was decided it wasn't 1080, but actually a form of cyanide poisaning from some algae that she had licked at the river. Another dog came in showing the same signs and its owners told the vet it had eaten some algae down at the river.

Please keep an eye on your dog if you decide to walk them around the rivers at the moment. Don't let them drink from stagnent ponds or eat plant material from the riverside. Evidently there was an outbreak 2 years ago in the Hutt Valley and several dogs were seriously ill.

We caught Raven quite early. If we had waited she could have slipped into a coma and/or died.If you have friends in the area with dogs you might want to warn them as well. /Jo

More youth involved in sadistic animal abuse

A list detailing horrific cases of animal abuse was whittled down because there were too many to include, the SPCA says.

Its annual "list of shame", released yesterday, was longer than last year's - 50 cases compared with 30 - although that did not mean there had been more cases this year, just that the situation was not getting any better, said SPCA national chief executive Robyn McDonald.
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Man sorry for registering dog on electoral roll

The man who registered his jack russell dog on the electoral roll has said sorry and will not face charges.

Queenstown Police Detective Sergeant Grahme Bartlett said its investigation into Wanaka man Peter Rhodes for breaching the Electoral Act by registering his dog Toby was complete. Mr Rhodes was found to have acted illegally and has been officially warned for his actions. (click on title to read more)

Wanaka man apologises for registering dog

The man who registered his jack russell dog on the electoral roll has said sorry and will not face charges.

Queenstown Police Detective Sergeant Grahme Bartlett said its investigation into Wanaka man Peter Rhodes for breaching the Electoral Act by registering his dog Toby was complete.
Mr Rhodes was found to have acted illegally and has been officially warned for his actions. (click on title to read more)

Walking the dog ends in rescue mission

A regular 30-minute walk for her dog Jess in the Kaimai Range turned into a wet overnight stay in the bush and a full-scale search and rescue exercise for Tauranga woman Annette Dibley.


Mrs Dibley decided to take her labrador-cross pet for a short walk before she went to work at the Tauranga Fish and Dive Club on Sunday afternoon.

Dressed in a thin, cotton T-shirt and jeans, Mrs Dibley intended to be away for a hour at the most on Sunday. (title for more)

Oh, where has that little dog gone?

Katie the schnoodle coped with a trip from San Francisco and did her time in quarantine, but fled in terror from her first New Zealand Guy Fawkes.


The four-year-old miniature schnauzer-poodle cross is now missing and her distraught owner, American Juli Raskauskas, is pleading for help.

"I got her from the SPCA in the States about two and a half years ago," said Ms Raskauskas, a lecturer at the Massey University College of Education. (click on title for more)

Australian dog team beats NZ on home turf

Australian dog trialists are celebrating after beating New Zealand on home turf for the first time in the annual transtasman sheep dog trials. Back in Australia, members of the Australian Working Sheep Dog Association team were celebrating after their win in the two-day test series in Hamilton and Hastings. ABC Radio said team member Paul O'Kane and his border collie, Evonne Goolagong, were celebrating. (click on title for more)

Owner banned after starving dog

A Manukau City man who allowed a pitbull to lose 40 per cent of her body weight as she fed nine puppies has been banned from owning a dog for three years.

Shane Pearce, 25, a Papatoetoe spraypainter, was also ordered to do 125 hours' community work when he appeared in Manukau District Court on a charge of failing to provide the dog with proper food and water.

Puppy killer gets 200 hours

A teenager who threw a 6-week-old puppy through the air and then kicked it like a football when it landed has been sentenced to 200 hours' community work.

The female puppy, one of a litter of Doberman-type pups, died soon afterwards from haemorrhaging resulting from a ruptured liver.
(...)
The maximum penalty for the offence is three years' jail, a $50,000 fine or both.

And I hope he gets them both!!

Missing woman found safe in Kaimai Ranges

Searchers have found a 35-year-old woman who spent last night in the bush in the Kaimai Ranges after getting lost while walking her dog.


Senior Sergeant Ross Bielby of the Tauranga police said the woman entered the bush yesterday around 3.30pm intending to walk the Ngamuwahine Track with her dog.

"She was expected to return in time to go to work that night so when she didn't, the alarm was raised."
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'Screaming' dog had to be cut free from kennel

A dog owner says Saturday night's fireworks left her dog "screaming" in fear and wants an end to what she calls the misery of pets at Guy Fawkes.


Gwen Zentveld's pet samoyed Zari had to be cut out of her kennel at about 11pm on Saturday night after becoming trapped trying to squeeze through the wire netting in her cage to escape the noise.

"We heard her screaming. It wasn't barking or yelping . . . it was a high pitched scream. My husband had to go and get wire cutters to get her out. She had ripped at the wire with her teeth.

Showtime crowd enjoys indoor dog trials

Indoor dog trials were one of the few things at Manawatu's Showtime 2005 yesterday that drew a crowd.


People gathered around the edge of the arena to watch the dogs eye the sheep into submission and the competitors say neither they nor their dogs were aware of the audience and were not distracted.

The Manawatu-Westcoast A&P Show has been on at Arena Manawatu yesterday and today.
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Family pays dearly for dog registration mixup

A case of mistaken dog identity has cost an Auckland family hundreds of dollars in fines and soured relationships with neighbours.

Mary Scanlon-Viliamu says neighbours complain about her staffordshire bull terrier roaming Rockfield Rd in Oranga. But a doppelganger dog is to blame.

Hero was impounded by animal control after someone reported him for attacking another dog last week. He was not wearing identification tags. (click title for more)

Council moves on hoons' haven

Waipa District Council will block off vehicle access to the area where a dog was killed while walking with its owner in Te Ko Utu Park.

Although mourning the tragic loss of her border collie dog, Sweep, Karen Goode was hopeful the police and council would be able to stop hoons driving their cars along the popular Camellia walk that attracts walkers and parents with children as well as dog owners.

"It's a wonder there hasn't been anyone else killed up there, canine or human."
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Dog attack puts postie in hospital

A Dargaville postie is in Whangarei Hospital after being attacked by a dog last week.

Lyn Bishop received a severe gouge to her shin and will be in hospital while skin grafts are attached. Ms Bishop says the dog was behind a fence in a residential area near central Dargaville with its owner present. The dog, she says, was running up and down barking, but not aggressively. (click on title for more)

Killer dog's reign of terror ended

A reign of terror for the cats of Te Kuiti is over.

A dog that killed more than 200 of the King Country town's cats over 10 months was yesterday shot dead by animal control officer Rod McLeod.

Mr McLeod shot the dog with a .22 rifle about 2pm, he said.

"He was asleep in the sun and he didn't wake up," he said.

Animal officers cop abuse

Animal control officers are facing death threats as they clamp down on unregistered dogs.

In the past year they've been spat at, abused and even threatened with a gun. Officer Scott, who is too scared of reprisals to use his last name, says there's been a big increase in aggression since his team was asked to police tough new laws two years ago.

"People are quite abusive in their language and mannerisms. We get verbal abuse on a daily basis."

He says most problems occur when going on to properties with unregistered dogs, "usually when they become aware their dog may be seized".
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200 dead cats: one dog, one bullet

By TAMARA PENNIKET AND BRUCE HOLLOWAY has caught up with a night-time prowler which slaughtered more than 200 domestic cats during an eight-month reign of pet terror.

The animal control officer who has been hunting a notorious white staffordshire pitbull terrier-cross since cat killings began in Te Kuiti in March, yesterday shot it dead following a tip-off.

The beast, originally one of a gang of five feral dogs, was dubbed Te Kuiti's "ghost dog" because it was so hard to find, was never seen during the day and only ever killed between 1am and 3.30am.

Mr McLeod found the three-year-old collarless dog asleep in scrub on the side of a hill at the back of a suburban house. (click title for more)

Dog badly beaten for protecting home

Brett Hansen hopes the would-be burglars who beat his dog and left her hanging by the neck in Mount Maunganui will be licking their own wounds.

Blood left on the smashed gate and on a window near where the 13-year-old bitch was left dangling suggest to him that his plucky Daks was able to leave her mark on her assailants.
Police are investigating the attack on the dog as well as the burglary attempt and have sent blood samples from the scene away for analysis.

Acting Senior Sergeant Darryl Brazier said the staffordshire bull terrier cross suffered a cruel beating for trying to protect her master's Reilly Ave home.
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Draw of sheep favours Aussies

New Zealand went down to Australia in a historic loss at the Trans-Tasman Sheepdog Trials in Hamilton last weekend.

It was the first time the New Zealanders had lost the Wayloggo Cup on their home soil in about 20 years of competition.

Australian captain Jim O'Connell was elated.

"Being our first win on New Zealand soil, it's fantastic for us," he said.
Mr O'Connell's four-man team lost the first match in Hawke's Bay a fortnight ago, but won the second in Hamilton, taking out the series on aggregate points. (click on title 4 more)

Dairy farmer holds own at dog trial

Dairy farmers can herd sheep just as well as sheep farmers.
Waikato man Stephen Meek proved that at the Tux Yarding Challenge in Hamilton last weekend.

Mr Meek and his dog Finn came third in the Waikato competition, held at Claudelands Showgrounds as part of the 75th Royal New Zealand Show. The pair qualified for the national finals in Levin next January.

Mr Meek was "pretty stoked". "Just to be there will be a bit of an honour," he said.
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