Katie Matuschka is devastated after her adored lambs Winter and Princess, were mauled by dogs near Kaitaia.

A young girl and her family are devastated after their prizewinning pet lambs were mauled by dogs.

Winter and Princess were found with wounds so severe they had to be put down on Sunday at a farm near Ahipara, west of Kaitaia.

Katie Matuschka, 11, had big plans for her pets.

Daina McPherson Princess and Winter were known for making themselves at home on the deck.

Princess was a prizewinning lamb, and Katie was aiming for another tilt at competitions after winning ribbons at the Kaitaia A&P Show and Royal Easter Show earlier this year.

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Katie also hoped Princess would have lambs of her own one day.

The family did not see the attack, but saw the lambs in distress before they were put down.

"It's sad they [Katie and brother Kai] had to witness that happening to something they love so much," mother Daina McPherson said.

"I can't understand why it happened and why it had to be our lambs.

"My daughter witnessed that and is finding it hard to get the images out of her head."

McPherson said her children Katie and Kai had always wanted lambs, with the pets purchased around a year ago.

"Katie just loved it, she fed them every feed. They were amazing pets for the kids.

"Winter and Princess were always together, the kids would take them out of their paddock, and you could always hear squeals of laughter and joy."

McPherson is urging people to know where their dogs are at all times.

"We want to raise awareness and make people think twice about where their dog is – then maybe something good can come out of this.

"People are being careless and in the end [Katie] is suffering."

Plans to add to their flock have been put on hold as the family work through their sadness.

"We were almost about to get some more lambs but now we don't know if they are going to be safe.

"The chances of [attacks] happening again are very slim, but it's still so raw, we have to put that on hold for a while."

A Far North District Council spokesman said staff had investigated the attack.

"Two dogs were later uplifted and are currently being held in the council's northern animal shelter."

The investigation into the attack was ongoing, the spokesman said.