Dogs destroyed after mauling

The last pig dog bitch is loaded into a truck by Animal Control officer Eric Teaukura. Photo / Sarah Ivey

A pack of eight pig dogs who savaged a woman jogger were yesterday destroyed by animal control in the Waikato, and their owner charged.

Margit Christensen, 36, is expected to undergo several operations on numerous dog bites that left her resembling "a blob of blood".

Putaruru police yesterday arrested and charged the owner of the dogs, 29-year-old Tara Tuhakaraina with eight counts of owning a dog that caused injury.

Her dogs, a mongrel breed of bull terrier, ridgeback and greyhound, were believed to have run through a gate to attack Christensen, who was jogging on a rural road in Puketurua, west of Putaruru in the Waikato on Monday afternoon.

Margit's husband Sven Christensen said a German friend was unicycling up ahead when she heard Mrs Christensen screaming as three dogs attacked her.

"She was screaming with three dogs on her, trying to kick them off when another five or so dogs came flying across and she fell to the ground."

The friend alerted a neighbour to the attack and called Mr Christensen, who reached the scene before medical help arrived.

"By the time I got there the dogs were off ... Margit was basically just sitting, she looked like a big blob of blood on the side of the road," he said.

She suffered lacerations to her scalp, arms and legs, and was airlifted to hospital.

The eight dogs, aged between 6 months and 2 years, were killed by Animal Control yesterday. The parents of the pig dogs, Sky and Rusty, were taken to the pound as a precaution. The last of the eight pups to be rounded up, called Number 1, fought viciously when captured.

A neighbour said his children were often wary of the dogs, keeping their distance from the property.

"Those dogs are bad news - they are quite intimidating, rushing to the gate when you walk past," he said.

Mr Christensen said he knew the owner of the pig dogs personally and that she had helped get the dogs off his wife.

Ms Tuhakaraina's home was empty yesterday. Witnesses said she was distraught at the mauling.

Another neighbour said they had found her sitting in the driveway after the attack. "She was in a bad way. She was just sitting ... near where Maggie was lying, covered in a blanket. She knew the consequences. She knew they'd be put down."

Under the charges she could face a prison sentence of up to three years or $20,000 in fines.

- ADDITIONAL REPORTING: NZPA