Dog who attacked Gisborne woman destroyed

A Gisborne woman who spent a week in hospital after being attacked by a neighbour's dog has welcomed the decision to have the dog destroyed. The Gisborne District Council has confirmed that the two-year-old great dane/bull mastiff cross was put down on Monday morning after a meeting with its owners. The dog attacked the 39-year-old woman in Parau Street in the Gisborne suburb of Kaiti on Saturday 30 January. She was left with wounds to her face, neck and arm. Her injuries required surgery and she spent seven days in Gisborne Hospital.

The owners of the dog which attacked the woman have relinquished control of the animal to the Council, and the dog has now been destroyed. The woman sustained serious injuries in the attack, which became subject to a police investigation. “There were conflicting explanations as to the start of the attack and where and how it took place”, said Council’s Environment and Planning manager Hans van Kregten.

“What’s not at issue is that a person was seriously injured in the attack. The Council was considering its legal options, because of the fears that after this initial attack, the dog could attack again in the future. Now that the dog’s owners have decided to give up their ownership rights, the situation became relatively straightforward to Council. No further actions against the owners will be taken by Council”, Mr van Kregten said.