A West Coast woman was taken to hospital after being attacked by a dog late yesterday.
It was the fourth incident involving dangerous or menacing dogs in the Grey Valley district since Saturday.
Emergency services were called to a Logburn Rd property at Atarau about 4.30pm. An ambulance crew from Reefton initially treated the woman before she was airlifted to Grey Base Hospital in Greymouth by the NZCC West Coast Rescue Helicopter.
Grey District Council animal control officer Paula Kerr said this morning she understood the victim has discharged.
Council staff had already talked to the dog owner and were on their way to talk to the victim.
"The owner was co-operative and the owner is working with us," Ms Kerr said. "We were called by the police to secure the dog and we have the dog with us. We're investigating."
It was the fourth serious incident involving dogs in less than five days.
A dog mauled seven sheep on a lifestyle property in the Dobson area early on Saturday.
"Unfortunately, there were no witnesses and the dog was not sighted. We can confirm that the farmer lost seven out of a little mob of 21," Ms Kerr said.
The mauled sheep had either died or had since been put down.
The mauling was believed to have happened about 4 o'clock in the morning.
When the sheep were found it was immediately obvious they were the victims of a dog attack.
The property owner had been in the area for more than 20 years and had never encountered such an attack in that time.
Ms Kerr said the dog or dogs would be destroyed if they could be identified.
"It's just a reminder to dog owners to be aware where their dogs are at night."
Animal control staff were called to a lifestyle property at Runanga on Saturday afternoon after someone found a dog worrying a mob of about 20 sheep.
Ms Kerr said the vigilance of the property owner helped in that case and the dog was able to be removed before it maimed any of the sheep.
"The dog was a very aggressive dog. It has been classified and has been returned to the owner."
Staff were called out again on Saturday night after a vehicle hit a cattle beast at Coal Creek. The animal had to be destroyed.
On Friday afternoon, members of the public reported two dogs worrying horses in a paddock on Pig Farm Rd, at the south end of the Karoro Domain.
Ms Kerr said the horses were not harmed but the incident again proved the worth of calling animal control quickly.
The number of calls for this type of incident was rising although it was probably a reflection of people being more proactive about reporting, rather than an increase in the number of incidents themselves.
"We've definitely seen an increase with information for people not having control of their dog, and that's because people are phoning sooner."
The owners of any registered dogs caught worrying stock were subject to $200 fines; unregistered dog owners risked a $300 fine.
The dogs held by the council in the latest cases would probably be classified as menacing.
West Coast police prevention manager Senior Sergeant Vicki Walker said this morning the council was the lead agency in the investigation into the Atarau attack.
- By Brendon McMahon of the Greymouth Star
