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Motorists driving on central North Island roads are being warned to keep an eye out for wandering stock after police were forced to shoot dead three horses near Tokaanu, Turangi, last night.
Senior Sergeant Duncan McKenzie, of Turangi police, said police received numerous calls from the public about horses on State Highway 41 about 7pm and eventually had to shoot three animals.
Mr McKenzie said the problem of animals wandering on the region's roads was an issue in midwinter each year, as many were not properly fenced and escaped to seek feed as growth in their paddocks slowed in the cold conditions.
Two weeks ago, police witnessed 12 cows wandering on the road near Turangi, and last week a woman towing a trailer was hit by a horse on the road.
Fortunately, the horse glanced off the trailer and the woman was unhurt, Mr McKenzie said.
However, he believed it was only a matter of luck that nobody had been hurt by wandering animals in recent weeks, particularly with the ski season under way and extra drivers on roads around Mt Ruapehu.
"At the end of the day, I would rather be called horrible names for someone's horse being destroyed, as opposed to someone's family member being seriously injured, or worse."
It was difficult to track down the animals' owners as no-one wanted to take responsibility for them once police had been alerted to an incident, Mr McKenzie said.
- NZPA
