Some Aucklanders are mourning the loss of beloved animal companions after Friday’s deluge swamped fields and homes, with livestock drowned and many pets still missing.
Rodney Animal Rescue’s Alice Hayward told the Herald of livestock losses from the floodwaters.
“Many sheep lost their lives in Coatesville and some ponies lost theirs in Kaukapakapa,” she said.
“We had a sheep brought to us on a boat as our road had flooded, the worst ever it had been.
“Today we are driving around to ensure all stock is at high points,” Hayward said.
“The rivers are rising but I think everyone is prepared now, the best they can for the coming days.”
The Real Housewives of Auckland star and New Zealand Cat Foundation chairwoman Anne Batley-Burton’s Kumeu/Huapai-based cat sanctuary “The Pussy Palace” had been left drenched.
“It was like a lake all around,” she told the Herald.
“The driveway was fully covered in water and the current was so strong. Some of our volunteers who came to help were not able to get across.
“Luckily the tenant who lives in my cottage out front had a friend who came with his four-wheel drive and got them through. We had a massive runoff from trees collecting on the floor covering sections of the sanctuary.
“There was water leaking off the roof... it was just horrific,” Batley-Burton said.
The weekend had brought more rain, meaning everyone had to continuously sweep off the water so it didn’t end up flooding.
“Yesterday, all of a sudden rain came down and within 10 minutes water filled up to my calf muscle area. It was like a lake around us, it dissipated overnight,” she said.
“There’s just more and more rain. The cat litter is wet.”
Cats were safe, Batley-Burton said, but the whole event had not been a good experience for them.
“Poor cats must have been freaking out, racing around the sanctuary. We have about 300 cats here and 200 of them are in the sanctuary.”
Desperate for help, Batley-Burton put a call out on the foundation’s social media page.
“We have had eight kids and their parents come to pitch in. Another lady is coming with a pump to help get the rest of the water out. The kids are worried about the cats. They are helping us bucket out liquid from the sandpit.”
One of her neighbours had lost a lot of lambs in the flood, she said.
“It is heartbreaking. I can’t imagine how they are feeling.”
North of Auckland in Kaukapakapa, Rose Flats Equestrian had seen the worst of it.
“All the paddocks had been completely flooded on Friday, even the ones where we won’t expect water to get in,” Georgia Sheard told the Herald.
“Baleage stack was floating with an entire stack of hays underwater, we are yet to determine if it has gone bad or not.”
Horses were standing in quite deep water and had to be moved to a safer place, all of them were in a small space unable to move much, she said.
“There is not a lot of grass for the horses, they are now getting a lot of hay. We still don’t know if the stack is spoiled or not due to water.”
Sheard said all the fences around the equestrian looked okay but there was a lot of debris stuck up in them.
“There was silt in paddocks yesterday, and flooding back up again due to rain. We are again back to where we were at 7pm on Friday evening.”
Yesterday, Animal Evac NZ’s rescue volunteers were asked to assist with Auckland’s flooding emergency by the Ministry for Primay Industries.
They attended the Mangere Community Hub and provide advice to people on keeping their animals safe.
Board Chair Tony Sutorius said Auckland Council had been doing an excellent job in assisting people with animals where needed.
“The low number of Aucklanders using the public shelters suggests people are generally well-organised in making sure they and their pets have alternative accommodation where needed.”
The flooding emergency this weekend was a reminder to make sure owners had a plan for their animals to get out safe, as well as themselves, Sutorius said.
“Our hearts go out to those families who have lost loved ones in this event, as well as those who have lost animals to the floodwaters.
“It’s a timely reminder that people with animals need to have a plan for civil emergencies.”
Sutorius said when people need to leave home suddenly, they strongly recommended taking their animals with them.
“That means having carry-cages and trailers enough to take all animals at once, and having a prepared pack of their food and medicines to grab quickly.
“As well as the humane reasons for ensuring the safety of animals, there’s also a practical reason for it – so that people don’t go back into a dangerous area looking for them.”
Today and tomorrow the charity is crewing an in-animal care and well-being helpdesk at the Mangere Memorial Hall in Mangere Bridge from 8am-8pm for people needing advice.
The team can also be reached online via WhatsApp.
Today, Auckland Zoo shared on social media the vast majority of the animals in their care were safe and well.
However, “we recovered the bodies of two small birds on Saturday – a zebra finch and a kotare – that appear to have been overwhelmed by the volume of rain and waterlogged and appear to be the only casualties of the storm”.
The zoo would be closed to visitors while they clean up and structural and electrical assessments have been completed.
The most impacted areas were close to Motion’s Creek which normally runs calmly into the Zoo through their New Zealand track, past the American alligators and Lizard Lane in the South America Rainforest Track and exits the Zoo near some of the bird habitats, they said.
“By Friday afternoon the water was rising to high levels, and our teams took a proactive decision to evacuate some of the animal areas near the creek to higher ground. This included the skinks, scheltopusiks and beaded dragons of Lizard Lane, American alligators and New Zealand reptiles.
“The creek continued to rise and in the early evening flowed over the top of its stone wall boundary and caused major flooding to the lower lying part of the Zoo – including most areas the creek travels through (as mentioned above). In some places, it reached 1.5 metres.”
The damage to these lower-lying areas was significant given the high level, volume and fast-moving current of the water, the zoo said.
“Furniture such as picnic benches and bins were moved around, buildings were flooded and there has been loss of animal feed, equipment and office supplies.
“Vital hay supplies were also lost and we are grateful to our suppliers for helping us to restock and ensure our ungulate species have the right food for the coming weeks.
“As you can imagine, this clean-up will take several days and until structural and electrical assessments are completed, we are unable to open to visitors. Please check back via our social media channels and website as to when the Zoo will be able to reopen.”
Taupaki Rd resident and owner of Doctor Dog Paul Treneary earlier told the Herald he and others had to rescue cows after the creek swelled up into a river on Friday evening.
“Our house is flooded. The tree house got absolutely smashed.
“We were told by neighbours that cows were drowning just a kilometre away from our place.
“So me and some other guys went to help them because people in our community are willing to go on a limb and help out any life.
“Police officers told us firefighters weren’t allowed to go in there. So cows would just have to end. And we wouldn’t have that. I am a former lifeguard and I value all life.
“There were 15 people from the community there to help the animals. And we slammed across the flood with ropes getting the cows to swim off the river about 100 metres and we saved three of them.”
Treneary said the flood was like nothing he had seen before - all the sewerage valves were overflowing.
“The council should have been better prepared.”
Treneary has been distributing free dog food to more than 40 rescues and evacuation centres from his pet store.
“There are people living in shelters and garages who have lost everything they had no time to grab dog food or have money to afford it. We are in a community where we help each other and look out for animals. I am doing my bit.
“Some have lost their dogs, and in such situations, dogs go into hiding, they don’t come out the whole time. So we are trying to look for pets that might have gone missing in our local area, calling out to them.”
A Facebook group Pets lost in Auckland Floods has been started to reunite owners with lost animals.
MPI had deployed additional rescue teams for animal welfare response in Auckland.
One of them HUHA NZ is in Warkworth making sure all the livestock is moved to higher ground.
Animal rescuer Carolyn Press-McKenzie told the herald when the team arrived on Saturday the situation looked bad however many rescue teams in the region and the district council had been well prepared.
Last night the charity received a call from a farm owner in Kaipara Flats who had lost nine sheep on Friday and was worried about the safety of the remaining livestock.
“We took the remaining four cows and two sheep to Warkworth in a sanctuary. The owner called me today to inform me the paddock had indeed flooded.
“A lady also called this morning about her blind dog going missing, a team of people are helping her find the dog.”
Press-McKenzie said she wanted all animal owners to know there was help available either through the civil defence on 0800 22 22 00 or through local rescues.
“We want people to know that there is help for them, they can ring civil defence and put through to MPI or call us.
“We also have donations from animates which we are dropping off at evacuation centres.
“People don’t need to feel bad asking for help whether it’s food, shelter, transport or accommodation because there are teams waiting to help them. There is also an animal shelter built by the council in Wiri.”
SPCA chief executive Gabby Clezy said they were keeping in close contact with MPI which co-ordinates the emergency response for animal displacement in these situations.
“If you need to evacuate, you should take your pets with you. Remember if it isn’t safe for you, it isn’t safe for them. Our Auckland Centres and Op Shops are closed to the public until further notice, with our Inspectors responding to urgent welfare concerns only – however, we will stay close to the situation and will be attempting to provide assistance where we can during and following this emergency.
“People who require emergency housing for their pets should contact Civil Defence on 0800 22 22 00.”
Communications released after minister apologised for his behaviour last month.