Dog owners face charges after Pāpāmoa attacks

Tauranga City Council is prosecuting owners of dogs allegedly involved in recent high-profile attacks in Pāpāmoa.

The most recent incident was an attack on a horse on the beach, while the other involved people and cattle being bitten.

Both owners appeared before the council’s Regulatory Hearings Panel on July 20, seeking to have their dogs released from the pound. The panel’s decisions were confirmed this month.

Auckland woman Muriwai Popata-Kaitoa sought the release of her two dogs impounded since they were allegedly involved in an incident on November 14 last year.

A report by Animal Services team leader Oscar Glossop said Popata-Kaitoa’s adult Rottweiler, Sasha, and Staffordshire bull terrier cross, Blue.E, were being held after the incident.

The council alleged she and her then-partner were walking with six off-leash dogs on Parton Rd, Pāpāmoa.

During a physical confrontation with a motorist, the Rottweiler allegedly attacked her owner’s arm and bit the wrist of a person who stopped to help.

Later, the bull terrier cross allegedly entered a paddock on Alice Lane, where it chased and attacked three cattle, injuring one cow’s face.

All dogs were seized, and four later returned. Animal Services received an appeal to the retention of the other two dogs on April 10.

Glossop told the panel he did not support the release of the dogs, which he described as having “very scary” temperaments.

He said every time he walked past the bull terrier in the pound, “[he] just about gives me a heart attack”.

The committee decided to keep both dogs at the pound until prosecution.

Popata-Kaitoa is facing three charges under the Dog Control Act for owning a dog that attacked. She is due to appear in Tauranga District Court on December 1.

A conviction could result in mandatory destruction orders for the dogs.

At the hearing, Pearl Jaclyn Li Si challenged the impounding of her two dogs alleged to have been involved in a serious attack on a horse.

Glossop’s report said Li Si owned the 5-year-old Staffordshire bull terriers named Rambo and Oreo.

They were alleged to have attacked a horse and rider while walking off leash on Pāpāmoa Beach on May 5.

The dogs were seized at the scene.

Glossop’s report said Rambo had a history of aggressive behaviour, having attacked a dog and killed a cat in 2022. The dog was classified as menacing, requiring him to be muzzled in public.

Animal Services believed Rambo was not muzzled during the attack.

Beverley Edwards, a solicitor representing Li Si, told the panel Rambo should have been wearing a muzzle on the day; however, he had not attacked anything in two years.

Edwards argued the dogs should be released to Li Si. She said they would be secured to the property and muzzled and leashed when out for veterinary treatment, meaning there would be “no realistic mechanism by which the release could threaten the safety of any person, stock, domestic pet, or protected wildlife”.

The committee decided to keep both dogs at the pound until prosecution.

Li Si is facing two charges under the Dog Control Act for owning a dog that attacked stock. She is due to appear in Tauranga District Court on August 21.

Ōhauiti woman Shontelle Castledine faced the panel to object to a barking abatement notice.

Glossop’s report said she owned two 1-year-old dogs: Karma, a German Shepherd, and Zeus, a Border Collie Staffordshire Bull Terrier cross.

She received an abatement notice from the council on June 5 after numerous barking complaints. The notice stated her dogs had to wear anti-bark collars.

Castledine objected to the notice, saying the use of the anti-bark collar could see a repeat of a “collar freak incident” where Zeus nearly died of asphyxiation.

The committee received the objection and confirmed the barking abatement notice.

Welcome Bay resident Aroha Ririnui appeared before the panel to object to a proposal to disqualify her from owning a dog.

Glossop’s report said Ririnui received the proposal on May 5 after repeated infringements and impoundments.

She owns a boxer-American pit bull terrier cross, Kai, and a bulldog-mastiff cross, Jack. Both were almost 4 years old.

The report said Kai was caught roaming in Welcome Bay in seven separate incidents over 2025 and 2026, and impounded five times last year.

In eight months, five infringement notices were issued for failure to keep the dog under control.

A three-year disqualification was proposed because Ririnui had surpassed three infringement offences within 24 months.

The panel could choose to uphold the proposed disqualification, shorten it or terminate it. If Ririnui was disqualified, she would have 14 days to rehome her dogs.

She told the panel she accepted she had been irresponsible as a dog owner.

She had started training the dogs and said they had not roamed since.

Ririnui said she had installed an electronic dog fence containment system and cages to put them in while she was out.

“They’re not violent dogs. They’re always around my mokopuna.”

The committee decided to continue with the disqualification for one year, effective from December 28 last year.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.