Dog put down after attack

The owners of a dog that attacked and killed another dog and injured its owner have agreed to have it destroyed.

An elderly couple were walking their chihuahua-cross lapdog in Rawene, 43km west of Kaikohe, when a dog believed to be a mastiff/rottweiler cross ran across the road from its property and mauled the small dog to death.

"Basically it killed it on the spot, then took the dead dog and dragged it back to its kennel," said Rawene police Senior Constable Jeff Cramp.

"The elderly man received puncture wounds and lacerations to both arms trying to get the other dog to release his dog."

The man, fearing his dog might be eaten, went to retrieve his pet's corpse from the kennel with no further incident, Mr Cramp said.

"It was pretty sad. The dead dog's owners were shaken about the whole thing."

Mr Cramp said the offending dog's owners had been out of the district when the attack occurred, but had agreed the animal could be put down.