Killer dogs elude rangers

KILLER dogs are ravaging Wanganui pet cats ? and some fear small children may be next on the menu.
Since Monday 11 cats have been reported dead, leaving a trail of grief-stricken owners.
The target area of the two dogs ? believed to be bull terrier crosses ? is Gonville and Springvale.
Council dog ranger Bernie Compton said they had been trying to catch the dogs for the past nine months.
During that period about 50 cats have been killed.
Areas targeted were Tawhero St, Titoki St, Smithfield Rd, Devon Rd, Karamu St, Rimu St, Alma Rd, Fitzherbert Ave and Broadhead Ave.
Two dogs were spotted on the prowl doing the killing earlier in the week, however three dogs were spotted on Wednesday and Thursday nights.
Wanganui's Marlene Head was horrified after spotting three dead cats while walking along Karamu St on Wednesday morning.
Smithfield Rd resident Jason Clark is still haunted by the vision of his cat being carried off to its death by two dogs about 1am on Monday.
It was the 14-year-old moggy's screaming that first alerted him that something was wrong.
However, by the time he got to the back door the screaming had stopped and the dogs were carrying the cat down the driveway in their jaws ? one gripping its head, the other its rear.
He got in the car and chased the pair, who dumped the pet cat about 50 metres away.
"It was unreal, like nothing I have ever seen before. These dogs were hunting them. They'd just go into every house, hunt for the cat, come out licking their lips, spray and go into the next one. I've never seen such killing machines before."
Mr Clark followed the dogs ? one white, one a ginger/brown colour ? for the next hour and a-half, helpless as they proceeded with their killing session.
Mr Clark, and his wife, Lisa, said they wouldn't be getting another cat.
"Not after watching that. It was disgusting," Mr Clark said. He's now afraid the dogs might target something bigger ? like small children.
It's a sentiment shared by Fitzherbert Ave resident Caitriona Webster.
Mrs Webster, a Wanganui High School biology teacher, said as dogs were descendants of wolves it would be quite hard for them to stop killing.
"Those dogs won't stop with cats. The next step is a small child. It could be a newborn baby or a small toddler. Once they've got that hunting instinct, that's it. They're just insatiable."
Mrs Webster had her cat killed by a dog last year and two weeks ago woke to find a cat being mauled outside her home. She and her husband followed the two dogs to Lincoln Rd, behind the Mormon church.
Devon Rd resident Linda Petersen woke to hear what she thought was a cat fight.
"I went out to the wash-house and saw two dogs having a good feed on her. I kicked them out, hoping she would be okay, but she died the next morning."
She wants other Gonville/Springvale residents to be aware of the savage dogs so they can keep their cats inside at night.
"She was a beautiful cat, and we miss her. It's like part of our family is missing. Those dogs have got a taste for blood now, and I just want to tell people to keep an eye out for these dogs."
Mr Compton said he and his team were just as keen as anyone else in the community to bring the killer dogs' days to an end.
He also accepted the fact that the attacks were getting worse. "It's a headache, and we've got to get these dogs more than ever. The only safe thing to do is for people to keep their cats in at night."
A pattern was starting to emerge ? the dogs were killing between 1am and 6am ? prompting early morning patrols of the target areas.
Rangers spotted the dogs on Thursday night but lost hem in Toi St, where they ran off into the golf course.
Mr Compton had asked police and taxi drivers to keep an eye out and sent the same plea out to night workers who also might spot the dogs.