Northland dog attack: Mourners arriving in Moerewa after grandmother’s death

Police outside an Otiria Rd property in Moerewa after an elderly woman died in a dog attack on Thursday. Photo / RNZ

A community is coming together in the Far North to mourn a Moerewa grandmother killed in a dog attack this week.

The elderly woman’s name is yet to be publicly released by her family or police, but preparations are under way for her tangi at a marae near the settlement, 60 kilometres north of Whangārei.

People are already pouring into the area for the married mother of five’s farewell, family spokesman Joey Rapana said this morning.

“This is such an amazing community. We’ve got five generations living in the same homes, so it doesn’t just affect the immediate family but the entire community, and Kawakawa and the other surrounding settlements too.”

Around 2000 people live in the small Far North settlement of Moerewa. Photo / RNZ / Lucy Xia

It wasn’t yet known when his aunty’s body would come home, he said.

A police spokeswoman confirmed this morning a post-mortem was still taking place. Police are making enquiries into the death on behalf of the coroner.

The woman’s two daughters were also injured in the dog attack at her Otiria Rd property on Thursday, with one undergoing surgery for her wounds at Whangārei Base Hospital yesterday.

He understood she had since been discharged from hospital, Rapana said.

Their mother, aged in her 70s, was attacked while hanging out washing. It’s understood a neighbour shot the dog, a household pet, before police arrived.

A Moerewa resident, Bee, earlier this week described the well-known whaea as a much-loved member of the community.

“[She was] a beautiful woman with a humble, caring heart, and it’s just a real tragedy that this has happened.”

Cherie Howie is an Auckland-based reporter who joined the Herald in 2011. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years and specialises in general news and features.