Tony Woodbridge

A dog off its lead in an area where the animals must be controlled at all times resulted in the death of a little blue penguin at Oamaru Harbour on Thursday.

The incident was reported to police and Waitaki District Council animal control officers, who are investigating.

Sergeant Tony Woodbridge, of Oamaru, said it was reported a woman walking two dogs at Oamaru Harbour let one off its lead and then "turned away for a matter of moments" before the dog, of an unknown breed, attacked the penguin.

Its body was brought to the Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony, where it was checked over by the colony’s research scientist Dr Philippa Agnew.

She said instances of penguins being killed by dogs were not common.

"We’re probably pretty lucky we don’t because there are a lot of people that let their dogs off where they shouldn’t."

Under the Waitaki District Council’s dog control bylaw, all dogs being walked at the Oamaru Harbour coastal area between sunrise and sunset must be on a lead.

The only exception is at Friendly Bay, where dogs are prohibited. Dr Agnew said the penguin was likely to have been killed by a single bite.

"Usually with dogs it’s a crushing injury. They don’t tend to rip the penguin apart or anything like that.

"It’s usually just one bite. One bite from a dog can kill a penguin and that looks like what happened."

She said the bird did not have a band or microchip and, based on the size of its bill, was about a year old.

- Daniel Birchfield