Two Christchurch dogs linked to a series of alleged attacks, including a fatal dog incident, have been seized by Christchurch City Council animal control officers.

As first reported by chrislynchmedia.com, one attack occurred on Sunday 14 December on Avondale Road.

A cyclist was travelling along the street with two dogs on lead when, as they passed a residential property, one of the dogs described as a large American Bulldog type dog ran onto the property and attacked 2-year-old Shiba Inu named Zoey.

Zoey was on lead and leaving her home with her owner when the attacking dog entered the property and viciously attacked her, leaving her with deep wounds to her neck and stomach.

Following publication of that story, five days later another man contacted chrislynchmedia.com saying his Jack Russell was attacked by the same dogs outside Oderings on Linwood Avenue.

“I had to wrestle the dog down so it wasn’t any worse. The guy ran off after he got his dog back, no care or concern for the dog he injured. He was only using plastic rope with no hand loops as leads” he said.

“Thankfully no stitches were needed, but quick action was, to stop the dog from doing any further harm. Two workers at Picture Framing Services, as well as a passerby driver stopped to help and check up on me and my partner. I suffered grazes and cuts, thankfully no damage from the dog on myself.”

Another dog owner came forward this week saying her Chihuahua was mauled to death by the same dogs.

“On Wednesday, the dogs broke through Mum and Dad’s back fence. An American Pitbull and a Husky or something similar. They killed my wee dog Olaf,” she said.

“I contacted dog control and the dogs were still on the property with Olaf dead on the path when the officer and his manager arrived.”

She said as officers approached, one of the dogs charged at the dog control officer, who waved his control pole to stop it.

“By this time the dogs were at the back fence and went back through,” she said.

“After securing the fence, we asked the dog control officers if they were going to secure the dogs. He said since the dogs were now on their own property, they could not get them. That left us with two dangerous dogs still close-by, and we were scared they could break through again.”

The woman said she later recognised the dogs as the same animals pictured in a chrislynchmedia.com appeal asking the public to identify them.

“We have photos of these dogs on our property, which we later recognised as the same dogs you had published on your site,” she said.

“We had no idea at the time about the history of these dogs. We were horrified and devastated. If dog control officers dealt with either of the previous attacks, our dearly loved family member Olaf would still be alive.

“Thanks to your article asking for help to identify these dogs, we were able to match them with the photos we had of the dogs who broke into our property and killed our dog.”

She said the family was later contacted by the council. “Out of the blue we received a call from the council saying they were getting a warrant to seize the dogs. The dogs were removed today.”

Another family member said “this pattern highlights what appears to be a broader and ongoing issue within Christchurch regarding the management and enforcement of dog control responsibilities. It is a matter of public safety and animal welfare, and one that requires more effective intervention.”

A Christchurch City Council spokesperson confirmed to chrislynchmedia.com “Animal Management Officers attended an address in Thomas Street today.”

“As this is an ongoing investigation, we have no further comment at this time.”

A police spokeswoman said “we can confirm police attended a Thomas Street property this morning to assist Animal Management.”

Multiple sources, including three owners of dogs who were injured or fatally attacked, said the dogs were seized.

Photos sent to chrislynchmedia.com showed an animal control vehicle and police cars parked on Thomas Street on Friday morning.

Zoey’s owner said while he was relieved the dogs had finally been seized, he was frustrated authorities did not act sooner.

He said residents should not have been forced to investigate attacks themselves before action was taken.