They may have attacked sheep, and possibly swans as well, but the owner of the two dogs implicated seemingly does not believe they need to be muzzled when out in public places.
The Dunedin City Council laid out in a report the case for the dogs, River and Charlie, to be classified as menacing and a hearing is to be held tomorrow.
The dogs’ owner Michaela Anderton objected to the classification, but she has not yet publicly disclosed the grounds for her objection.
If the classification stands, the two dogs will have to be muzzled when they are away from her property, unless they are confined in a vehicle, house, fenced property or cage.
Miss Anderton paid a $200 fine in relation to the incident.
The city council, complainants, a witness, the Otago Regional Council and Miss Anderton all provided material about what appeared to have happened on or near June 1.
The afternoon ended with the two dogs in the pound, after the complainants captured them, having seen one dog "holding" a sheep in its mouth and the other one chasing sheep.
The complainants yarded their sheep the following day and reported three missing from a mob of 300.
River, a male huntaway-golden retriever cross aged 2 and a-half years, ducked into the sand dune.
Charlie, a 14-month-old Labrador retriever, followed.
"My partner and I went over to them, but they had already made their way through the tussocks.
"We continued the search for the dogs throughout the day by looking by car and also on foot, checking the beach and dunes again."
She also rang the city council.
Meanwhile, a person collecting water samples in the area heard dogs barking and saw two cygnets running away.
The witness noticed a dead adult swan and drove to the complainants’ farm to warn of dogs present there.
The Otago Regional Council would later submit a series of photographs to the city council of six dead swans at the Tomahawk Lagoon.
Some had bite wounds from a dog, a regional council staff member said.
Miss Anderton was advised by the city council her dogs had been classified as menacing because "they were not under effective control and entered a nearby farming property and were seen attacking sheep".
Animal control officer Janine Day said she believed the dogs posed a threat to stock and wildlife, "and the requirement for the dogs to wear muzzles in public would mitigate future risk to public safety".
Miss Anderton said neither dog had shown any aggression towards sheep and lambs on her lifestyle property.
The hearing is to be chaired by Cr Kevin Gilbert and the other committee members are Crs Sophie Barker and Andrew Whiley.
