Man charged following dog's death

CLOSURE: A man has been arrested after Kay Hamilton's fox terrier, Rosie, was killed by a quad bike at Haumoana Beach last Thursday. Ms Hamilton is in her back garden, where Rosie is buried. PHOTO/GLENN TAYLOR HBT140630-11

A man has been arrested and charged for allegedly driving a quad bike which hit and killed a puppy on Haumoana Beach last Thursday.

Senior Constable Alan Daly yesterday confirmed the Haumoana resident was facing a charge of dangerous driving.

"People obviously need to be aware there are restrictions, it's not just a recreational vehicle, you can die on these things, it was unfortunate in this case it was a dog, but could have been a pedestrian or a child. They need to start realising what the consequences are," Mr Daly said.

Rosie, an 8-month-old miniature fox terrier, was hit with such force it caused massive internal injuries.

Police believe speed was a factor in the accident.

"It's a minority that are bringing all quad bike drivers into disrepute. The enforcement of quad bikes will go up and people need to be aware they should be wearing safety helmets.

"They need to be more responsible, they shouldn't let kids drive or drive a quad without a licence. There are instructions on new bikes that say you should not carry more than one person."

Rosie's owner, Kay Hamilton, said she was "on cloud nine" to discover a man had been charged after she identified someone in a photo line-up. "It's given some closure to that chapter so I can begin to move on. It's a dangerous thing he did, it was just such cruelty."

She wanted to clarify that she never let Rosie off her leash, except on the beach when there weren't many people around.

The tiny terrier was always restrained when walking the region's Rotary pathways or hiking up Te Mata Peak, which they did regularly on weekends.