Coromandel dog attack leaves family shattered after beloved pet killed

A dog attack in the Coromandel has left a family heartbroken and their beloved pet dead.

Christine and Mo Holdin lost 5-year-old Oscar, a shih tzu and bichon Frise cross during an incident at Kuranui Bay near Thames on Wednesday about 5pm.

Christine was also injured during the incident, in which a pack of four dogs rushed upon her, leaving her with extensive bites and bruises to both hands as she attempted to shelter Oscar from the onslaught.

The incident comes a day after it was confirmed a 54-year-old man was charged with owning two dogs who mauled a woman and her dog in Tairua on May 22.

The two incidents are not related.

Thames-Coromandel District Council confirmed it was now investigating the Kuranui Bay incident, and confirmed a dog was killed and a woman injured.

A council spokesman confirmed they had spoken to an injured woman as part of their investigation while it is understood council staff have been in the Kuranui Bay area over the past couple of days canvassing residents for information.

“The more people that know about this the better; this dog will kill again,” Christine said.

Christine’s husband Mo took to social media on Thursday offering a $1000 reward for information leading to the dogs and owners being found and brought to justice.

“It’s imperative that these dogs and owners are found as they will attack and kill again,” he said in the post.

Christine and Oscar at home in Thames.

“Oscar was such a big part of our family, and our pain can’t be described in words.”

Christine recalled the incident, saying she took her two dogs Oscar and 14-month-old Abby, a Maltese schnauzer cross to Kuranui Bay for a walk she did most days.

She spotted four dogs at the opposite end of Kuranui Bay Reserve, describing two of them as tan-coloured, one black and one white.

Mo and Christine Holdin with Oscar.

They were off their leads and accompanied by two women.

Christine said he made her way along the beach with Oscar and Abby, keeping their distance from the pack.

“I tried to stay away from them because they were big dogs.”

The pack then came running towards Christine, Oscar and Abby, “they saw us and just bolted down the beach”.

“Both my dogs were behind me, not on leashes, there is no way they provoked them, they didn’t have enough time to provoke them.”

Christine said she received extensive bites and bruises to her hands during the attack.

Christine said the tan one picked Oscar up in its mouth.

“I was screaming and waving my arms in the air; it was shaking Oscar about, I grabbed Oscar and the dog wouldn’t let go.”

Christine said she then dropped to the ground to provide Oscar with cover.

“I had retractable leads on me and smacked it on the nose with them, but it wouldn’t let go, it eventually let go but came back and grabbed Oscar again, this happened four or five times.

“I was screaming at the top of my lungs; it took the women a wee while to get from where they were standing.

“When the women arrived, I could hear them trying to get the dogs away; when they finally grabbed the dog, they started screaming at me to get out of there.

Oscar.

“They couldn’t control the dogs, it was like it was my fault.”

Christine said she got free of the entanglement, picked Oscar up and ran towards her car.

Describing the incident, in tears, Christine said Oscar died in her arms.

“I realised he had passed away when I got him into the car; he was just being pulled around like a rag doll, he had wounds all over his body, there was blood on my jeans, I had lost my phone and dog leads on the beach, there was blood all over my hands.

“The dog had been biting my hands.”

Meanwhile, she was calling out for Abby, who had fled the scene, and eventually spotted the dog across the road.

Abby would not come to her.

She went back to the beach and retrieved her phone, calling Mo, then a friend.

Neither answered, but her phone soon started ringing, a friend had retrieved Abby in a nearby street and called out to the dog before messaging Christine.

“I called her and told her Oscar had been killed, she drove straight down to the beach and we drove straight to accident and emergency.

At Thames Hospital, Christine was treated for her wounds, given a tetanus injection and put on a course of antibiotics.

“I got to the hospital at 5.30pm and left there at 11pm.”

Her friend retrieved Oscar from the car and took the dog to the crematorium.

“My husband was just so furious; he was in tears; I have never seen him cry before.”

Christine said her friend notified the council.

She gave the council a statement on Thursday.

“We are gutted; Oscar was such a special little boy.”