A dog was killed on Tauranga's Takitimu Drive today as it tried to reach its owner cycling beside Waikareao Estuary.
The owner of the ute that ran over the border collie cross said he saw the dog jump over the barrier on the city side of Takitimu Drive. He was driving towards the Harbour Bridge, about halfway between Waihi Rd and Elizabeth St.
As he slowed down to miss the dog, a logging truck that had not seen the animal passed him on his left.
"It spooked the dog because the next thing I know it ran under my ute."
The man, who asked not to be named, did not know how the dog came to be separated from its owner on the opposite side of Takitimu Drive.