A postie who stepped-in to help three frightened children as a bull mastiff dog barked and leapt at them in a street last week claims she knew it wasn't dangerous.
But Kathy Jones -- known as "Kazz" to workmates at the NZ Post Hastings mail centre -- realised 12-year-old Breanna McRae and young cousins Paku and Kahu Whitehead wouldn't have known that. She said it was simply a case of helping the children when the incident happened in Grove Rd, Mayfair, last Wednesday.
Yesterday, she told Hawke's Bay Today how she used a combination of postie aggressive dog training and her own knowledge from owning and training dogs. Added to this was the advice of her Maori language tutor still ringing in her ears: "The children are our future."
She believed the dog was confused and trying to get back home, but was agitated by another dog on a lead, when it began barking and leaping.
"I've been brought-up with dogs, and I've bred dogs," she said. "I wouldn't call it ferocious or vicious. I could see it was making an attempt to go back home.
"But I could see the children were frightened," she said.
"I saw their fear. The little one [Kahu, aged almost 3] was starting to climb all over the girl [Breanna]. She was the hero. She was amazing."
Ms Jones hadn't seen the dog before, and the property from which it came wasn't tagged in a dog-alert profile the Mail centre keeps of city streets. At the first sign of problems, she alerted Hastings District Council's animal control officers.
She then put her bike between herself and the dog and also used a child's scooter to fend off the dog which ran-off, but was captured when officers arrived almost immediately.
Others had come to help, one a resident who offered to hold the bike, and another a passing motorist who offered a chain.
Hastings Postal Services Group delivery leader Dylan Turnbull said it was good to see "Kazz", a postie for nine years, had been able to put something between herself and the dog as the training taught the staff, and she was able to solve the problem.
Hastings District council acting group manager planning and regulatory Malcom Hart said council animal control staff had had no previous dealings with the dog which has been returned to its owners, pending inquiries into what happened.
By Doug Laing of the Hawke's Bay Today
