An east Auckland woman has been reunited with her beloved pet dog after he fled her home during a stressful police incident there last Thursday.
The local resident lives at a property near the intersection of Pakuranga Road and Glenmore Road in Pakuranga.
She says she wanted to take her dog Simba with her when she left the house on Thursday morning, but police told her officers present would make sure he was fine, so she left him in the backyard.
“I said to the police ‘my dog is very attached to me, I never leave him alone and we’re always together’.
“They told me the dog would be fine. The officers would look after the dog or make sure he would be fine, but that didn’t happen.
“I think he jumped the fence not long after I left the property.”
The woman arranged for a relative to go to her home to collect Simba on Thursday afternoon, thinking he was still there, but when they arrived they were told by police the dog had jumped the fence.
“They didn’t do anything about it,” his owner says.
“I said ‘you told me you would make sure the dog would be okay’.
“I was like, ‘it’s a busy road, what if he ran onto the road and caused an accident – then you’re going to have a pile-up on Pakuranga Road’.
“I was really disappointed they didn’t notify me [that he had escaped from the property].”
The woman returned to her home at about 6pm last Thursday and had been searching since then for Simba, a pitbull-cross who’s about 16 months old and microchipped.
She posted on social media about him being missing and the Times reported on the situation last Friday night.
“I’ve been very concerned for my dog,” she said at the time.
“I’ve been posting and I’ve been doing what I can to go out and look for him.
“I feel terrible that I put him in this situation. I should have taken him with me, but I was stressed.
“Poor Simba. He’s probably wondered where I’ve gone and he’s looking for me.
“I haven’t heard of any sightings of him so I’m very concerned for his welfare.”
However, there was relief on Sunday with the news Simba had turned up at a nearby home on Friday morning and the property’s occupants had been looking after him.
His happy owner says she’s relieved to have him back.
“I just feel like my heart is whole again. He was so happy to see me.
“Even though I’m dealing with so much other stuff, having him home with me is a huge stress gone.
“He’s currently fast asleep on the couch and he seems quite tired.”
Police have been contacted for comment.
