Lamb mauled by dog

Munro wanted her kids to enjoy the experience of rearing a pet lamb.

However, the Rotorua woman's dream turned into a nightmare when she woke yesterday morning to find the lamb ripped apart by a dog in the backyard of their Rutland St property.

Now she fears the dog which mauled it may have a taste for blood and attack again.

"My son and I were walking out to give the lamb its bottle but my husband, who was already out there, told me not to come any further."

She managed to shield their 5-year-old son, Jason, from seeing the mangled carcass but he immediately knew something was wrong. "He saw me crying and heard us talking about a dog. When I told him what happened he cried too."

Mrs Munro had had the lamb for only a week after agreeing to help a friend who lives on a Reporoa farm. The lamb was an orphan and needed bottle-feeding until it was weaned. She had fenced off a section of their backyard to give it plenty of space to wander and had talked to neighbours about adopting the lamb.

She planned to return it next month but in the meantime she was enjoying her children seeing the animal grow.

The family had walked the lamb on a leash around the neighbourhood and Mrs Munro had planned to take it to the daycare where she works to show other children tomorrow.

She said there were dogs in the area but they had never wandered on to her property before. A neighbour owned rabbits and chickens but had never had any problems with dogs attacking their pets.

Neither Mrs Munro or her husband heard anything unusual on Monday night and never suspected a dog would jump their high fences to reach the lamb.

"I was more worried that it was Guy Fawkes and the loud noises might have scared it. I had said to my husband that maybe it would die of fright but I never thought it would end up dead because of a dog."

Her husband buried the lamb in their backyard and Mrs Munro planned to get her son to help make a cross to mark its grave.

"I think it will help him understand what's happened."

She has reported the incident to Rotorua's Animal Control and is urging dog owners in the Hillcrest and Westend areas to keep an eye on their dogs.

"Someone would have noticed their dog if it came home covered in blood. I realise it's not likely the owner will come forward but I just want the dog stopped from attacking again."

Animal control supervisor Kevin Coutts said because no one saw the attack, it would be hard to track down the dog responsible.

"The attack is more likely to be opportunistic. We don't know if this was a fox terrier or a great dane."

However, he said the attack could have been prevented.

"It all comes down to responsible dog ownership. It's not the dog's fault. It's the owner's for letting their dog roam at night."

- NZH