A dog that wiped out 13 animals in a bloody killing spree will be put down after its owner failed to show up in court.
Robert Charles Taare (also known as Robert Kaiwai) was due to appear in the Dunedin District Court today after pleading not guilty to two charges under the Dog Control Act.
But the court heard the 46-year-old was in Gisborne and his counsel Jo Turner had no instructions to advance a defence.
As a result, Judge John Macdonald found the charges of failing to confine a dog and being the owner of a dog responsible for attacking animals proven.
He ordered the Staffordshire Bull-Mastiff called “Sarge” would be destroyed.
Dunedin City Council prosecutor Eleanor Bunt said Taare would be banned from owning a dog for five years – a process outside the court’s jurisdiction.
On January 5, the defendant called the council to advise Sarge was on the loose.
Taare said he was angry his friend had left the door of his Kaikorai home open which led the pet’s escape.
But it was no one-off.
Since 2017, the council’s Animal Services Team had spoken to Taare eight times after Sarge was repeatedly found wandering the streets alone.
The dog had been impounded several times, the court heard.
An hour after Taare’s call about the dog’s absence there came a complaint of an attack at a lifestyle block on Helensburgh Rd.
By the time dog-control staff arrived, the victim had secured Sarge – but not before the bloody carnage had occurred.
The animal was responsible for the death of nine chickens, two Flemish rabbits and two last-year lambs.
After reviewing detailed affidavits, Judge Macdonald said it was clear Sarge was the animal which committed the slaughter and Taare was the owner.
While the charges carried a maximum fine of $3000, he said it was unlikely the defendant would be able to pay.
Instead he imposed $685 reparation, for the cost of the dead animals, and ordered the animal be euthanised.
Ms Bunt said Sarge had remained since the incident at the home at which it had been living but officers would soon head over to seize the dangerous pet.
