'My son, my son': Armed intruder shoots family pet couple got to replace children they couldn't have

Monday, 11 December 2023

He was the child they would never have.

As he lay dying, Meesha and TeRangi Kiri were faced with an impossible decision.

They asked the police to shoot him.

With eyes red from crying, the couple relayed the traumatic events that led to Irie, their big goofball of a dog, being shot by an armed intruder in Christchurch on December 3.

Just moments before, a man pointed a shotgun at Irie’s head and shot at point-blank range. He had pinned TeRangi to the ground, and held the same gun to his head.

“I was just begging for my life at that point,” TeRangi shrugs, still in shock.

It’s been just over ten days since the softly spoken couple’s lives were completely upended. TeRangi has stopped working and has flashbacks every day. Meesha has only just been able to share the harrowing moments when she nearly lost her husband as well as the dog they call their “son”.

The couple have had difficulty conceiving due to a PCOS and endometriosis diagnosis. Doctors told the couple IVF would be the only way they could get pregnant.

They got Irie around the time Meesha was in hospital and found his presence in their life had filled the void.

It was around 1am when TeRangi heard Irie, a black-haired german shepherd crossed with Shar Pei and Mastiff and their other “child”, Jar, a border collie cross, growl.

When he went to investigate, he saw a man climbing through a hole in the front gate, where cars were parked on the lawn.

Thinking the man was going to steal one of the cars, TeRangi let Jar and Irie out but was immediately confronted by the man who had a gun.

“He pulled the gun out, rushed at me, and was swearing… I was just begging for my life”.

The man swung the shotgun, hitting TeRangi in the ribs, and then kicked him to the ground, where he stood over him, and pointed it at his head.

Although the next moments are a blur, he remembers seeing the man turn around and aim at Irie, who had always tried to protect the couple.

The man shot Irie, and fired another shot the couple believe was meant for Jar, and then ran off, leaving TeRangi devastated, as he crouched over the dog he had always treated like the child the couple were unable to have.

“My son, my son,” he screamed, which woke Meesha up.

When she went outside, she saw TeRangi trying to pick up their dying dog.

“It was just complete shock,” Meesha sobs. “He was breathing his blood in. It was like a muffled drowning”.

Police promptly arrived at the Aranui address, as families from the cul-de-sac arrived to offer support.

Whānau begged the police to put Irie out of his misery. Eventually, the dog was moved to the front lawn, and a police officer shot him. But Irie didn’t give up and howled, jumping half a metre in the air.

“All we heard was the howling,” Meesha says in a broken voice. The second shot killed Irie, and every single police officer present apologised to the couple - something they were grateful for.

“We didn’t want to keep him struggling,” TeRangi says. “That would be selfish”.

The couple thanked the police and covered Irie in a blanket that had belonged to TeRangi’s papa.

Afraid, and suffering from flashbacks, the couple have moved out of the whānau property they once called their home.

It’s been a tough year since TeRangi’s father passed away - almost a year to the day.

He was the one that protected the house with karakia (incantations and prayer used to invoke spiritual guidance and protection). But after he died, the house that was always unlocked, with windows wide open, suddenly felt cold, according to TeRangi.

Now, the house is nothing but a receptacle of trauma and memories of a dog that was known throughout the motu by Kiri whānau as a loving, gentle companion.

Worried the offender might return, the couple have moved into emergency housing in another part of the city for their own safety.

Given to Meesha by TeRangi not long after they married in 2020, Irie was always seen as a companion, after they were told they couldn’t have children together.

And like a child, the couple want to mourn him. More than anything, they want to cremate Irie, and get some keepsakes made.

But life hasn’t been kind to the couple lately, with Meesha sick with a stress related disorder. Funds have been hard to come by, which led to a normally publicity-shy couple asking for help on a Givealittle page.

The couple hate asking for help, but for Irie, they would do anything.

Currently, the SPCA is holding Irie’s body for the couple, but they would like to get him cremated as soon as possible.

A police spokesperson confirmed they attended early on December 3, after a report of a dog being shot on Carisbrook Street in Christchurch.

The spokesperson said an investigation is ongoing to locate the offender. Anyone with information is asked to reference file number 31203/5141.