Kāinga Ora under fire for inaction on neglected pets, aggressive dogs

The dogs were eventually seized and euthanised. The tenant only had approval to keep one dog and pets had been seized from her before.

The Onehunga resident said he’d been complaining to Kāinga Ora about the neglected and malnourished pets of various tenants at neighbouring properties for years.

The complaints related to:

The man described the starved dog as looking as if it should weigh 30kg but instead being about half the size.

“It’s still got very little or no shelter. It’s in a terrible condition. It’s still caged in … [the] backyard. It’s not looked after.”

Though a vet had now been to check the animal, the man approached the owner and offered to buy the dog so he could care for it.

He said Kāinga Ora admitted to knowing the dog was at the property despite the tenant not having approval for the animal.

“When we said we’d heard the dog had stopped barking maybe a month ago the response from Kāinga Ora was, why didn’t I notify them as soon as I’d heard that the dog had stopped barking.

“So if we don’t hear a dog barking, we should contact them.”

He said it was “actually impossible” to get any action from authorities except for the police when he and a neighbour discovered up to six dogs locked in a basement.

“We called Kāinga Ora and got no action. We called the council – they said they’d be out in a few days.

“The SPCA said it was a holiday weekend so they had no one on. And we eventually called the police, who came and one of the police [officers] adopted the dog herself.

“In follow-up, Kāinga Ora didn’t really seem to be responsible at all. It’s always someone else’s responsibility.”

He said the police were great but it was not their responsibility, nor was it the job of animal control.

With the aggressive dog, the man said he repeatedly notified Kāinga Ora but nothing changed despite him having camera footage of the animal.

He said he was eventually attacked by the dog and described the lack of responsibility as “so frustrating”.

Whose responsibility are the pets of Kāinga Ora tenants?

The man did not believe Kāinga Ora was keeping to its own animal policy.

This included that tenants needed permission to own a pet, must have a registered dog, couldn’t have a menacing or nuisance dog, if their dog attacked anyone the tenant could be asked to remove it, a dog couldn’t have puppies and the tenant couldn’t be a disqualified owner.

“I think Kāinga Ora need to take some responsibility for the properties they have,” the man said.

“The one next door has just been finished being fumigated for the flea infestation after the last tenants left with their pets.”

He wanted regular inspections and pet policies enforced and suggested the Tenancy Tribunal be involved.

“They need to try something because what they are doing is not working.

“We’ve had death threats. We’ve had property damage. We’ve had… a dog waiting on our doorstep to attack us, which the tenants let out.

“We’ve had a threat with a gun… This has stretched back with complaints over 10 years.

“The tenants there currently are great, but they have had some very disturbing behaviour in that property and it’s been directed at us repeatedly.”

Kāinga Ora general manager of national services Nick Maling said it expected tenants to be responsible pet owners.

“Those who want pets must first get Kāinga Ora’s consent – they must agree to follow local council bylaws and to take responsibility for the containment, health, and wellbeing of their pet.

“But he says as a landlord, Kāinga Ora is not responsible for animal control.

“People should contact their local council for that, and for welfare issues, contact SPCA.”

He said once people had done that, they should then let Kāinga Ora know and if necessary, it could take action under the Residential Tenancies Act.

SPCA general manager of animal services Corey Regnerus-Kell told Checkpoint animal welfare issues were the remit of the SPCA, unless there were more than 10 involved and then it was the responsibility of the Ministry for Primary Industries.

“If they’re not getting food, shelter, water or if they’re under any unnecessary pain, distress, or suffering, that’s where the SPCA walks in.

“So we are looking after the sick, the injured and the vulnerable animals to try to make sure we can care for them, rehabilitate them and rehome them.”

Under the Animal Welfare Act 1999 the SPCA could take animals from a property, but only if they were outside, he said.

Animals locked inside required a court-ordered search warrant to allow animal welfare inspectors to enter the property.

That would usually happen if no one was occupying the property or if the animal was suffering or starving.

Regnerus-Kell said a review of the Animal Welfare Act would be welcomed by the SPCA.

When asked about the three dogs at the Bucklands Beach property, Regnerus-Kell said he couldn’t comment as it was still an open case.

“We did support and attend multiple occasions between December and March – we were on this property and speaking with the owners of the animals at this time.”

He said it was Auckland Council that euthanised the dogs, not the SPCA.

Associate Agriculture (Animal Welfare) Minister Andrew Hoggard was invited to talk to Checkpoint and declined.

– RNZ