New Homes for new lives

HAWKE’S Bay writer Grant McLachlan saved a dog while on holiday here but it might be shot if a new home is not found.

Mr McLachlan was walking a friend’s dog at the Tolaga Bay Beach Reserve when he saw a black pup thrown out of the back door of a passing car before it sped off.

He has named the black English pointer puppy Mack.

“The pup was starved, with his bones sticking out, and in a panicked state, so I took him under my care, fed him, washed him, treated him for fleas and walked him every day to settle his nerves.”

Mr McLachlan said Mack comes with a kennel, feeder box and run he has built for him with materials donated from kind neighbours.

“He is a lovely-natured boy. It is such a shame he was abandoned.

“I am truly sickened by some people’s attitudes towards animals.

Some people need to have a better awareness of how to treat man’s best friend.”

Mr McLachlan has extended his holiday for another week to find Mack a home.

On Monday he will be forced to surrender the puppy to Gisborne District Council’s dog pound and believes Mack might be put down.

“I have extended my stay in Tolaga Bay until I find an owner for him. If anyone wants to provide this cute little fellow a home, let me know and we can arrange the details.”

Gisborne woman Brigitt Fielder has a similar problem. Her daughter in Hawke’s Bay found a starving black Labrador-cross dog at the top of the Whareratas two weeks ago.

“It ate all the food she had and drank her water. Then she met a dog ranger in Wairoa who put it in the pound.”

Now the two weeks is up and the dog is on the firing line, her daughter is picking up the dog and taking it home to her mother’s house to save its life.

“But she isn’t allowed dogs at her flat in Hawke’s Bay and I have two dogs.”

You can get in touch with the dog owners through the Herald by e-mailing alice.tepuni@gisborneherald.co.nz