A Tauranga to Auckland flight was among 16 domestic and international flights delayed when an aviation security dog escaped is handler at 4am and ran off onto the airfield.
The dog was shot dead at daylight after airport staff spent more than three hours trying to catch the dog.
Tauranga resident Adam Morris, a passenger on the 6am Tauranga-Auckland flight, tweeted about the plane being delayed by the dog being on the runway.
It is so awful to hear that the dog at Auckland Airport had to be put down. What an incredibly sad outcome.
— Adam Morris (@bigmarnmorris) March 16, 2017
The Tauranga flight took off about 6.30am.
Counties Manakau Inspector Tracy Phillips confirmed that Auckland Airport staff directed police to shoot the AVSEC dog, which was loose at the airport this morning.
'This followed considerable efforts over several hours by AVSEC and airport staff to contain the dog after it was first reported to be loose at 4am.
'Police based at the airport provide a range of support, and were in a supporting role for this incident which was led by airport staff and AVSEC,” says Tracy.
'Our thoughts are with the AVSEC dog handler involved. This is not an outcome which anyone wanted, and police were only asked to be involved as a last resort.”
12 comments
Sorry for the dog,
Posted on 17-03-2017 10:22 | By The Caveman
But clearly its training was not up to standard, especially if it was being used in public areas of the airport and questions need to be asked as to training and use of all such dogs in public areas.
Necessary?
Posted on 17-03-2017 10:29 | By Sprocket
I really struggle to see how it was necessary to shoot an AVSEC dog - was it not trained to return to its name? Could nobody on a large team of staff corall the dog? And there was no tranq gun? It's only got four legs so it's not like it could 'fly away'. And I'm sure passengers would have happily disembarked and helped catch the dog if they knew it was going to be shot if it could not be caught. So dissapointing that a dog - and a part of their team - had to be shot so planes could take off.
A deplorable decision
Posted on 17-03-2017 11:58 | By Seriously?
What a waste of a highly trained team member. If that were a human staff member running amok would the Airport Authority still have ordered the execution? Animals should have the same rights as humans. Clearly no vets available to use a tranquiliser dart?? So so unfair on dog and handler alike. If it was clear enough to shoot with a bullet, then it was clear enough to shoot with a tranquiliser. My heart goes out to the handler. RIP Grizz.
Sure, just kill it...
Posted on 17-03-2017 12:25 | By morepork
...we can't have people being delayed... This is a tragic outcome and a very sad reflection on the priorities at Auckland, not to mention some questions about the standard of training. It should never have happened, but when it did it, there had to be better options than just killing the dog. My thoughts go to the handler, who must be devastated over this.
Can we fly now?
Posted on 17-03-2017 12:45 | By Jim Bunny
It was a dog, just a dog. Can we take off now please?
How extremely sad
Posted on 17-03-2017 13:03 | By Angel74
and what a waste of well trained dog................maybe one of those darts that put animals to sleep for a short time needed to be used instead then the handler could of carried him to safety a kinder and cheaper option than to get all gun happy.
It's a dog
Posted on 17-03-2017 14:13 | By Chris
It's just a dog, get some perspective people. To the others in this comment chain who have described it as a "well trained" animal - then why did the dog ignore commands to return? Obviously not the brightest dog, no great loss.
Tranquiliser gun
Posted on 17-03-2017 16:11 | By NZer
Im amazed at the number of people that think that the athorities have tranquilliser guns just sitting around waitingto be used... Unbelievable....
To Chris!
Posted on 17-03-2017 22:26 | By Ben Dover
I hope that you don't have any animals you cruel heartless moron.
Half Trained dog!!
Posted on 17-03-2017 23:17 | By The Caveman
Well, well, it now transpires that the dog was HALF way through its training!! Sorry, but it should NOT have been "on the job" if it could not answer to: STOP, COME, HEAL, SIT (even at its young age). Media reports indicate that it costs $100,000 to train such a dog. Six months into training and it ain't good for FOUR basic commands - something is SERIOUSLY wrong.
Hang on a minute
Posted on 18-03-2017 07:05 | By Papamoaner
By what legal process can anyone "direct" the police to take action. Was it a complaint or a directive?As for that commenter calling himself Chris, I'm glad I don't know people like that
Forethought
Posted on 18-03-2017 08:08 | By maildrop
Another amazing example of how thick the people in charge of our security are! Chasing the dog for hours and not one of them could muster the brain cells to think ahead to what may be needed if this thing went on a while - a tranquilliser gun! They could have had one there within an hour. All it needed was someone with a brain who could apply forethought. Dearie me. Makes you realise that terrorists could run rings around this lot if they chose to target New Zealand. Mind you, I'm not surprised given the Kiwi rates of domestic, child and animal abuse.
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