A grief-stricken south Auckland community is united in its search for a group of roaming dogs being blamed for the deaths of dozens of pet cats.
Auckland Council says its animal control officers are focusing their efforts on catching the dogs, but residents want some accountability from the dog owners.
Conifer Grove resident Mike Davies is still in shock, after his cat George was mauled to death by a dog in the early hours of Saturday morning.
"Still processing it. It hurts," Davies told Newshub. "He's 12, you know? Been with us for a while."
Davies believes the owners of dogs should be held to account.
"As far as I'm concerned, the owner is culpable for a whole lot of misery."
The group of dogs has been captured on CCTV several times, roaming the streets of Conifer Grove, a suburb near Takanini.
Residents say dozens of cats have been killed over the past month, including Shadow, who was mauled to death last week.
"The sight of seeing these dogs going at our cat is very horrific. Our cat was 12 years old," the cat's owner, Conifer Grove resident Carl Smith, told Newshub.
The attack happened right outside his home.
"I got within arm's reach, yelling and screaming at the dog, before it finally turned off and ran back down the road, and our cat was just lying here on the grass."
More than 100 locals showed up to a public meeting this week where they shared their concerns about dogs with Manurewa-Papakura Councillor Daniel Newman.
He said lack of de-sexing during COVID-19 is part of the problem.
"You have an explosion of population, that's part of the challenge we need to get on top of. Right now, we've got to get these feral roaming dogs off the street," Newman told Newshub.
He joined animal control officers last night in a patrol of the area.
"It's very hard because these dogs are often ghosts in the night, you can only see them for a few seconds."
In an update on Saturday, Auckland Council said animal management officers are focusing their efforts on roaming dogs in Conifer Grove and have so far taken seven off the streets.
"While we have received many complaints from residents about black and/or tan dogs in the area, we cannot take every dog that meets this description into custody," Auckland Council's proactive animal management team leader Aaron Neary said.
"What we are doing is uplifting any roaming dogs we see and visiting addresses of interest to speak with dog owners about keeping their dogs contained."
Councillor Newman hopes raising awareness of the issue will lead to greater funding for animal control.
"It's a big problem and we need to get on top of it."
Davies just wants action.
"Why should something take a month? And the things are still out there killing people's pets. I just don't get it. If it comes down to funding, start funding them."
