A judge today ordered the owner of a dog which killed 14 endangered weka birds to complete 200 hours community work but refrained from ordering the dog's destruction, despite prosecution and defence agreeing this was appropriate.
Donald Shepherd, 66, of Warkworth, north of Auckland, appeared for sentence in Auckland District Court after a jury last month found him guilty of two charges of allowing his two dogs to enter a controlled area and one of owning a dog that attacked and killed endangered wildlife.
The charges were laid after 14 nationally vulnerable North Island weka were found dead on a Department of Conservation (DOC) reserve, along with a white peacock and a wallaby, on Kawau Island off the Warkworth coast.
Shepherd's dogs were found by a DOC ranger near the dead animals, half an hour after a security camera recorded images of the peacock alive.
It was the second time the dogs, a great dane-mastiff cross called Scooby and a shih tzu called Patch, had been found loose on the island. After their first escape from his property Shepherd installed an electric fence around the perimeter, but they ran off again when he took them for a walk without leads on.
Scooby was found to be the culprit, even though he had undergone a DOC course to make him safe around wildlife and had worn an electric collar to reinforce this.
Shepherd's lawyer, Helen Talbot, appealed for her client to be discharged without conviction, given the damage that had already been done to his reputation and self esteem. Shepherd had made his property a "virtual fortress" to keep the dogs contained, and while he had not exercised the necessary precautions when walking them, he never intended any harm.
"Having been there before and having done no harm he may not have been fully cognizant of what may have happened, and his own relationship with the dogs led him to believe that they were well trained and very unlikely to carry out such attacks on wildlife," she said.
Crown prosecutor Kate Mills submitted that a sentence of community service, a fine and an order that he not hold a dog licence for two years would be appropriate.
Also, the destruction of the dog would be in line with Parliament's legislation on dog control, she said.
Judge David McNaughton said while the offending was serious, Shepherd had gone to exceptional lengths to train his dogs and secure his property. Also, Scooby had been living on a Northland farm for the past 18 months so to kill it now would be unduly harsh.
"It seems to me that Mr Shepherd went to extreme lengths to ensure his dogs did not attack wildlife.
"But no matter how much care and training an animal receives it is still an animal and has animal instincts," he said.
Judge McNaughton arranged for Shepherd to complete 200 hours of community work at Kawau Island for DOC on a voluntary basis and, should he complete this within four months, he would not be fined or ordered to pay costs.
Shepherd will have this sentence finalised on a nominal date in February.
