Three gang members are due to appear in the Hastings District Court following a dog biting incident in the Hastings suburb of Flaxmere yesterday.
The men aged 26, 30 and 50 were arrested by armed police at about 5pm after a confrontation at a Flaxmere home.
Detective Sergeant Darren Pritchard of the Hawke's Bay CIB said the arrests followed an incident involving retaliation by two of the men and involved one of the suspects being "quite seriously bitten by a family pet owned by the victims".
The gang member who was bitten had then mentioned a firearm to his intended victims.
Such cases involving threats of firearms would always be taken seriously by police, Mr Pritchard said.
