The owners of a ten acre lifestyle block in Hāwea Flat experienced the “worst Easter of their lives” when their two hand-reared merino sheep were mauled by two dogs last Saturday.

Kim Fogelberg, who lives with her partner on McLennan Road, said the sheep were “very much family members” and a “much-loved part of our local community.” The ewe, Betty, was expected to make a full recovery after receiving stitches but, tragically, Barney the ram did not survive.

Fogelberg told the Wānaka Sun she was disappointed with the response from police and council over the Easter weekend and that, with her partner working in Christchurch, she was left to “do the detective work” on her own to find the dogs responsible.

It was confirmed after investigation that the dogs, a staffie and a black dog, belonged to a worker at the nearby Devon Dairy Farm. According to Fogelberg, the owner had “behaved very remorsefully” and “acted quickly to take the burden off [her] shoulders.”

Devon Dairy Farms were not available to comment.

Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) spokesperson Jack Barlow confirmed that “the owner determined it was appropriate to voluntarily euthanize the two dogs involved,” and this took place on Tuesday morning. He added that QLDC officers were made aware of the attack over the weekend and attempted to contact the owner of the sheep at that time as part of their investigation, before continuing the investigation on Tuesday morning.

QLDC were still investigating another attack last month, in which 43 sheep were killed on Glenfoyle Station when two dogs escaped from a local dog homestay. Fogelberg said that after receiving calls and messages from concerned Wanaka residents, she believed there was “a dangerous dog issue in Wānaka and Hāwea.”

“There have been multiple events, and anyone who lives on a small farmlet, lifestyle block or larger farm has real fear for good reasons. Many have suffered incidents and feel the council is not doing enough to address the issues,” she said.

Read edition 970 of the Wānaka Sun here.