'I ran to my dog's rescue': Woman traumatised after dognappers try to drown pet in sea

Author: Akula Sharma, NZ Herald,
Publish Date: Wed, 2 Nov 2022, 12:12pm

A dog owner and her pet are too scared to go for walks on a popular Auckland city beach after the animal was snatched and an attempt made to drown him.

The woman, who does not want to be named, said she was walking her beloved English bulldog along St Heliers Bay beach at dawn yesterday when she stopped to admire the sunrise and saw three people swimming in the water.

“The sun was coming up, I thought it was nice to stop and watch.

“However, when I turned around to walk past them they started calling my dog into the water.

“They must have heard me call him.”

An English bulldog and its owner are traumatised to walk along St Heliers Bay beach after three strangers tried to drown him.

The woman said one of them started yelling Mongrel Mob gang slogans at her and directed one of the trio to snatch her pet.

“One of the men told another to run up and grab my dog... to drag him out to them so they could drown him. "

A man then ran to the shore and started calling her dog by name.

“They began to try and get a hold of my dog in the water.

“By this point my dog was aggressively barking at the man who trying to attack him.”

She said she was desperate to save her dog from a terrible death.

“I ran to my dog’s rescue. He launched at the man trying to get a hold of him. He heard me yelling, and he turned and ran out of the water.

“The man also quickly ran back into the water to his friends.

“I quickly grabbed my dog and took him back to the safety of my car.”

The woman said her dog had been traumatised by the ordeal and taking comfort from a treasured soft toy.

“I was very shaken. My poor dog has been seeking support from his teddy bear after the ordeal he went through.”

She reported the incident to the police.

The woman posted her experience to a community group on social media where she found other residents had similar concerning incidents relating to the same group of people.

Police have been approached for comment.