A fox terrier found floating through a house on a boogie board yesterday is one of more than 300 animals that have been rescued from flooded homes in Edgecumbe.
Whakatane SPCA senior animal welfare inspector LiisaJones said staff have been working from about 6am to midnight each day visiting homes in the flooded town searching for pets and animals.
She described a "pretty amazing situation" where her team were driven on a quad bike into a property which was almost under water, transferred to another car and driven to the deck of a house.
"We went through the house and found a little fox terrier floating around on a boogie board."
She was visibly glad to see her rescuer and terrified of being back in the sewage-contaminated water again, Jones said. The dog, named Maia, had been there for more than two days.