Lifeguards have closed Mt Maunganui beach after a surfer's close encounter with a shark.

A mother dog howled all night after she fished her six dead puppies out of an estuary after they had been dumped in a shopping bag.

The family who adopted Trooper - the puppy that was rescued after being found outside the Gate Pa shops, in Tauranga, with its ears chopped off - say he is settling in to his new home very well.

Santa Claus is coming to town - and the weather is looking fantastic for his long ride down from the North Pole.

The pit bull puppy found in a Tauranga shopping area with his ears chopped off will head to a loving new home today.

A 3-month-old kitten was yesterday smashed against a door frame and left bloodied on a porch while its owners slept.

Tauranga residents are concerned they are dealing with a serial animal abuser after a kitten was violently thrown against a door and killed this morning - the third horrific act of animal cruelty in the city in a month.

The quest may no longer be for the elixir of immortality but with an ageing population there is increased awareness of what it takes to live long and well, writes Dionne Christian.