The widely criticised killing of a dog by Gisborne District Council staff was not the first time a family pet has been put down in the region without the owner’s knowledge.
In an uncanny parallel, a dog by the same name was also destroyed by the council in the 1980s, with the distraught owner only finding out after they arrived back from holiday.
Last Friday, family pet Sarge was taken to the Gisborne pound after the council says it found him wandering on the street.
He was killed later that day without the owner’s knowledge, in what is understood to be a case of mistaken identity.
Now a court document provided to Local Democracy Reporting shows that in 1984, the council destroyed a corgi — also named Sarge — after it was accused of worrying sheep by a neighbour.
The owner was on holiday with family in Hastings at the time, and only found out about what had happened upon returning home.
The saga unfolded within the course of one day, when on September 20, 1984 a council dog ranger was informed that two dogs were worrying sheep in the Newton Street area.
The concern was over by the time the ranger arrived, but he was able to ascertain that one of the dogs belonged to a nearby resident.
That resident, which the document refers to as Mr Edmundson, agreed to have his dog put down. He also told the ranger that the other dog involved lived across the street.
When the ranger arrived at the second address, he was greeted by a woman referred to as Mrs Te Pairi, who was the elderly aunt of the corgi’s owner, Margaret Takiwai.
Te Pairi was looking after the property and dog while family members were in Hastings for a few days, and was described in the court document as being “the kind of person who would be inclined to agree with suggestions put to her”. Evidence was also given that Te Pairi did not find it easy to understand strangers.
Upon the ranger discussing the problem with Te Pairi and telling her the best course of action was to put the corgi down, he said he was advised by the elderly aunt he could take the animal.
Te Pairi then collected Sarge from the property and handed it over to the ranger, who asked her to get Takiwai to call him when she was back from her trip.
Both dogs were put down by the end of the day.
When she returned to Gisborne, Takiwai was extremely upset to learn her pet had been killed and took legal action against the ranger.
That included $3000 for trespass to land, $150 for the dog and $5000 for aggravated or exemplary damages for his “arrogant and oppressive conduct”.
The court document noted he knew the dog belonged to Takiwai because he had requested her to have it registered a short time before the saga unfolded.
The judge who presided over the original case said the ranger gained the “distinct impression” from Te Pairi that she had the authority to deal with the dog.
Following a May 1985 decision which ruled in favour of the ranger, Takiwai lodged an appeal which was heard in February 1986.
The following month, it was deemed the ranger was carrying out his duties with a “genuine, though mistaken” understanding that Te Pairi had authority over the dog.
However,the court never established for certain if Sarge was one of the two dogs that worried sheep.
Takiwai won the appeal in part based on the value of the dog, but the success was described as “minor” and both parties were recommended to pay their own costs.
The owners of the dog killed last week by the council said they did not support the idea of fundraising for their loss, as it was not about the money for them.
“He was our world and now he has gone, and nothing we say or do will bring him back.”
By Matthew Rosenberg, Local Democracy Reporter
Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
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