Pet owners are ignoring 'No Dogs' signs in Northland and endangering native species such as kiwi, says a predator control operator.

They're there for a reason and it's the law, says Jarrid Plows, who lives at Whale Bay on the Tutukaka coast

Helping kiwi flourish in Northland Jarrid Plows from the Matapouri Kaitiaki Project Pests in the area Whale Bay

Jarrid is part of the Kiwi Coast Project - a group of volunteers working towards creating New Zealand's first modern-day 'kiwi corridor' between Whangaroa and Bream Head.

He's a pig hunter and not anti-dogs, just against irresponsible dog ownership.

He says a good start for dog owners spending time in protected areas would be getting their dog avian awareness and aversion-trained by Kiwis for kiwi.

Jarrid was in the army for 14 years before becoming a professional operator in predator control.

"I'm primarily a leg-holder, that's what we were taught. I use all methods really – the Steve Allens and the DOC boxes just like everyone else."

It's gonna take a lot more people getting behind the cause for New Zealand to be predator-free by 2050, he says.

Over summer, Jarrid sees dogs where they shouldn't be multiple times a day.

"Mate, the whole village just explodes. We get people with their dogs all over the place."

He says kiwi have a uniquely strong and pungent smell.

"It doesn't take much for a dog to get wind of one of those kiwi birds and find it and basically kill it."

Whale Bay has a dotterel population and little blue penguins are beginning to set up there, too, he says.

"Would you really want to be that dog owner who's responsible for harming a little blue penguin or a kiwi or any form of wildlife, really?"