Ōpōtiki: After dog breaks into animal rescue and kills three cats, $5k raised for Ōpōtiki Society for the Care of Animals

Ōpōtiki Society for the Care of Animals centre manager Kathleen Young. Photo / Sven Carlsson, Ōpōtiki News

About $5000 has been raised to boost security at an animal rescue centre after a dog broke in and killed three cats in a “frenzied” attack.

The killer canine has yet to be caught or identified but the local council is reviewing CCTV footage and appealing for anyone with information to come forward in confidence.

Ōpōtiki Society for the Care of Animals centre manager Kathleen Young previously told the Ōpōtiki News she found two outdoor cages had been broken into by a “frenzied and midsize dog” when she arrived at the centre on April 21.

Three cats - Flo Jo, Sage and Freddie - had been killed.

She told the Rotorua Daily Post today she did not have a description of the dog but suspected it was medium-sized, based on the paw prints it left.

“We suspect that we’re not going to get a revisit because if it’s an owned dog, then possibly it’s been tied up from all the publicity that’s gone on.”

The Ōpōtiki Society for the Care of Animals centre typically held two markets every month. Photo / Supplied

She said the centre was raising money to build two fences, one 28 metres long and the other 13m, to prevent a similar incident from happening again.

It held a fundraising day on Saturday on the main street of Ōpōtiki, selling cakes, biscuits, slices, preserves and relishes, which raised $1000, she said.

She said people had been “generous” with their money, which had made “a huge difference”.

The centre also received a “lovely donation” of some iron, which would likely cover the 28m fence. It still needed 13m of iron for the front, she said.

It was also looking at running a concrete strip underneath the fence to prevent a determined dog from digging under the fence, “now that we have this problem”.

“I would say that we would probably soak that $5000 up quite well.”

She hoped the fence would be finished in the next month.

“We’re very grateful for all the donations - we live in a small area and we fundraise within our own community and I think some of the donations have come further afield, so that’s pretty awesome.

“We don’t have to use our own cashflow to fund that [the fences] so it enables us to keep on going with our day-to-day work.”

She said it was the responsibility of the owner to keep their dog contained.

“We keep our cats contained and it was their animal that came onto our property.”

Young said there was a dog trap at the centre, provided by Ōpōtiki District Council, but acknowledged any dog it caught may not be the same one that killed the cats.

Young said if it trapped a dog, it would be taken to the pound.

Council planning and regulatory manager Gerard McCormack said it had put a “humane” dog cage at the centre.

“They basically walk in and they trigger the door that closes on them. They’ve got food in there and it gets checked every few hours.”

The council was reviewing CCTV footage in the hope of identifying the dog responsible for the attack, he said.

The council would do its best to catch the dog, and McCormack said he imagined the break-in would have been a “pretty shocking experience” for Young and the centre.

He said anyone with information could contact the council in confidence.