The owners of the Gisborne dog mistakenly put down are “beyond devastated” and “still in shock” over what happened.
Sarge, a collared and chipped dog, was taken from his family home by Gisborne District Council’s animal control on September 22.
The owners say that despite objections from neighbours, the dog was taken to a pound and put down anyway.
Today, the council apologised to the dog's whānau, describing the incident as a "grievous" and "regrettable case of human error".
In a statement, Sarge’s family said they were left “devastated” by the mistake.
“His family had no opportunity to speak to anyone before he was killed. We were advised of this horrible ‘mistake’ late Friday afternoon, a mere 7 hours after he was taken. We are beyond devastated,” they said.
“Sarge was a loved member of our family and community. After we buried him on Saturday, supported by family and friends, word spread about what had happened to our boy.”
The family said they were still “in shock about what reopened to our boy”.
They also struck out at social media users using the incident to take shots at the council and discouraged people from sending threats.
“We do not endorse or support the social media page ‘What Gisborne District Council got wrong this week’. Nor do we support threats or other forms of violence against anyone in our community.”
They also said they “do not support the idea of fundraising or givealittle pages being set up”.
“This is not about money for us.”
The council has reached out to the family, who will meet with them to “discuss just how deeply this has hurt us, our family and our community”.
“But not yet,” they said. “We have asked for time to grieve and try and understand how something so unjust could happen to our boy.”
“He was our world, and now he has gone, and nothing we say or do will bring him back.”
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