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A dog owner has contacted the police and SPCA to say the Waitangi Weekend incident that saw a dog dragged to its death behind a SUV on a Northland highway had been a "horrible accident".
Holidaying in the small Far North coastal town of Rawene during Waitangi weekend, Werner Roos and his fiancee said they saw a dog tied to the towbar of a silver SUV and being pulled along at speed along State Highway 12 near Waimamauku.
Bay of Islands SPCA centre manager John Logie told the Herald an inspector had spoken to the owner of the dog, who reported that it had been a "horrible accident".
"We've spoken to the family and what they've said is they [had] put the dog under the car for some shade and then taken off without realising.