Charlie the chihuahua was seconds from safety when fatally mauled

If Charlie the 11-year-old chihuahua’s legs had been a little faster, he’d have reached the cat door that guaranteed his sanctuary.

By Linda Hall of Local Democracy Reporting

Instead, Ashlei Sherwood found him dead, covered in blood and saliva, when she came home from work.

He’d been chased, caught and killed by her neighbour’s American pitbull.

A month later, Sherwood sits stroking her surviving chihuahua, 5-year-old Kylo, in her Hastings home.

Sherwood says Kylo is lucky. He survived an attack by the same dog a year ago. And that’s why she’s so furious.

She feels she’s been let down, and that Charlie could have been saved if Animal Control had taken a harder stance with the pitbull after the first attack.

“I feel as if I am living in a nightmare,” Sherwood says.

“I just feel devastated and can’t stop thinking about how easily it could have been prevented if Hastings District Council had taken the first attack more seriously.”

Sherwood, a Hastings Girls’ High School teacher, said on the day of the first attack, Kylo had likely only survived because a neighbour on the other side of her back section property was home when it happened.

“Kylo is really vocal, so he was just screaming and screaming and the neighbour’s teenage son jumped the fence.

“The dog didn’t have a collar, so he whipped his belt off and was trying to pull it back, then his mum and dad came to help.”

After reporting the attack, Animal Control visited Sherwood and her partner.

An incident report from the time, seen by Local Democracy Reporting, said that because there was “no blood drawn”, there were “no puncture wounds” and the dog was “now secured”, the council would take the option of “further” investigation.

The report also said the owner of the dog was co-operative, had agreed to pay Kylo’s vet fees and to improve the fence between the properties.

Sherwood said Animal Control officers later returned to inspect an improved fence, which included bamboo screening and an additional layer of corrugated iron. They said the dog would not be able to get over it.

“But I was really panicky, and I’m like, I don’t know, I can’t leave my dogs here, it’s not safe.”

She claimed the animal control officer told her “trust me it’s not going to get over that fence”.

“And I believed her, and the owner of the dog. She came around and apologised and told me she would supervise the dog outside and when she was out it would be inside, and so I trusted her as well.”

Charlie's last day – a desperate dash to safety

Sherwood is emotional as she recalls the Friday Charlie died.

It’s not clear exactly how the pitbull got into Sherwood’s property. The dog’s owner told Hastings District Council in a written statement her dog had “pushed through the side gate off the garage”.

Sherwood claims it likely jumped into another neighbour’s property and then over a fence into hers.

“I came home from work and opened the front door. They always greet me, but only Kylo was there. I started running around the house, thinking he must be trapped in a room.

“Then I looked at Kylo, he was panting, his tail between his legs and I started really panicking and hyperventilating.”

She ran outside. “I had a quick look, couldn’t see anything. I checked the fence and thought, it’s OK, the fence is still intact.

She said she went and asked some neighbours and they said they had heard barking about half an hour before, but nothing since.

“I immediately thought 'that dog', so I ran back home, went around the back ... and, right by the door, I found Charlie. He was covered in blood, covered in saliva, my heart dropped. I could immediately tell he was dead.

“If he had been just one second faster, he would have made it through the cat door.

'I just started freaking out – I was in shock'

A neighbour hearing her distress came over. They wrapped Charlie in a towel and took him into the house.

Animal Control was called and another neighbour said they had seen the dog on Sherwood’s property.

The owner surrendered her dog, and it was euthanised.

The owner wrote in her statement to the council that she was “deeply sorry for the damage my dog has caused”.

“I will cover any costs. I am deeply sorry.”

She declined to comment to Local Democracy Reporting.

Sherwood claims Charlie would still be alive if animal control officers had taken the first attack more seriously.

A council report following the fatal attack says it appeared to have happened without provocation and the owner was aware of the dog’s aggressive disposition.

Sherwood said if the neighbour's son hadn’t been home the first time, the outcome for Kylo would have been very different.

She said Kylo was only 3kg, and claims if blood had been drawn in the first attack, he “would be dead”.

“So basically, a dog had to die for something to happen,” Sherwood says.

“This has just ruined this home for me. The memories are everywhere.

“Every time I do the recycling, I see him [Charlie] lying there.

“We will probably sell our home. I think I’m done here.”

A council spokesperson said dog owners were responsible for ensuring their dogs were securely contained on their property, regardless of whether it was fenced or not.

“It is not Animal Control’s responsibility to ensure people have adequate fencing in place.

“In responding to [the first] incident, Animal Control dealt with the situation at hand and required the offending dog owner to improve this part of the boundary fencing that was not sufficiently secure.”

The Government is currently reviewing the Dog Control Act following a number of attacks, including the death of a woman in Northland earlier this year.

– Local Democracy Reporting is local-body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.