Local residents say that even before the woman’s death in Kaifu, Northland, they had received multiple complaints about dogs roaming the area and chasing people.

Emergency crews were called to the facility on State Route 12 at 11:25 a.m. Tuesday.

When police arrived, they found the woman dead.

Kaipara District Council’s animal control team responded to an incident involving a dog and a human at a property earlier on Tuesday and confirmed they are currently investigating.

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The dogs were secured.

“At this stage, we are unable to provide any further details or comment as the response and investigation is ongoing.”

Police are investigating the scene and say there is no danger to the public in connection with the incident.

Local residents told RNZ that multiple people had complained about the dog in the area, but no action had been taken.

The dogs had been at the facility for about a year.

During that time, they say they have complained to Kaipara District Council at least four times about the dog.

“There have been so many complaints about them in the last year and the council knows about it and hasn’t done anything about it.

“They always run out into the road. I was really scared that someone was going to get hurt.”

They believed that what happened could have been avoided.

Local residents also said dogs on the property chased cars, motorbikes and push bicycles down the road.

The area is part of the Kaihu Valley cycling course, and local residents say many tourists ride their bicycles along the road.

They said they heard about a couple just a few months ago who had to turn back on the road because of their dog.

“I don’t know how they can advertise it. [cycle trail] I know there is a dog problem here. ”

checkpoint asked Kaipara District Council to respond to local residents’ comments.

A spokesperson said the council was “unable to provide any further information or comment on this incident as the investigation is ongoing”.

“Our staff are currently actively working with police to understand the sequence of events and what happened on the premises today,” the spokesperson said.

St John confirmed that an ambulance and helicopter were called to the scene at 11.22am, but deferred further inquiries to police.

The incident comes amid growing calls for a review of dog control laws.

Local Government Minister Simon Watts said he was seeking urgent advice from authorities.

Watts said people deserve to feel safe in their neighborhoods and don’t need to carry clubs or bats with them when they leave their homes.

He said the Home Office was working on the issue with local councils to improve dog management and new guidelines were expected to be drawn up in the second half of this year.

Meanwhile, a Northlander whose relative was killed by a dog said today’s incident shows people need to take dog ownership more seriously.

Bay of Islands Whangaroa Community Board member Roddy Hapati Pihema’s aunt was killed by a dog in 2023.

“This is completely unbelievable. Dogs are killing so many people and it’s alarming that this issue is not being prioritized as much as it should be. We still have dogs running around on the streets and we still have dogs running around in recreational reserves,” he said.

“This continues to be a very worrying situation given that we are not learning from the people who are actually being attacked and those who have unfortunately lost their lives. There is a lot of work to be done,” Pihema said.

“The majority of people do [understand the risk of dogs] However, there are quite a few people out there who want to get a puppy but don’t want to be responsible for the dog. ”

He said the council was doing all it could to tackle the problem, but if owners did not take responsibility, there was little that could be done.

A Whangārei woman who is pushing for changes to animal ownership laws says she is heartbroken to learn of another dog fatality in her area.

Tracy Clark said she was shocked to learn of the attack.

“My heart sank and tears came to my eyes because this has been going on for far too long and too many people have died from dog attacks.”

She petitioned the task force to strengthen dog ownership laws.

“Current laws are outdated and need to be updated to take into account today’s differences in dog numbers and ownership,” she says.

The petition calls for major changes to dog ownership laws and council rules to end the problem of roaming dogs in New Zealand.

“We are in crisis as a nation and we need a solution quickly.”