Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Police are still investigating a fatal dog attack that killed a four-year-old boy on Friday.
The boy, who has been named online as Timothy Tu'uaki Rolleston-Bryan, was attacked on Friday near Katikati.
"One person was transported the Katikati Medical Centre in a critical condition, where sadly they died a short time later," police said.
"Another person received moderate injuries and was transported to hospital, where they remain."
Western Bay of Plenty District Council General Manager Regulatory Services Alison Curtis said Police called its Animal Services team to remove three dogs from the property following the attack.
"These dogs are now safely secured at the Te Puke Animal Shelter," Curtis said.
The owner had signed the dogs over to council custody, he said.
"This is an absolute tragedy, and our thoughts are with the whānau who are now facing an unimaginable loss," Curtis said.
That was echoed by Mayor of the Western Bay of Plenty District Council James Denyer who said it was a tragic event and his heart went out to the boy's family.
Meanwhile Rolleston-Bryan's family had posted on social media that they were heartbroken and shocked by his death.
The post said the four-year-old "had a little mischief in his smile," and "a heart full of cuteness."
Dog Safe Workplace said it was seeing reported dog incidents escalating with 29,233 dog incidents were reported to ACC last year, a 46 percent increase since 2015.
But Dog Safe Workplace founder and director Jo Clough reckoned the real number was much higher. Less than 20 percent of dog bites were reported, she said.
Ahead of Dog Bite Prevention Week she was encouraging people to think about dog safety, and said education was key to reducing dog related harm.
"We really need to start educating more children, more parents and more dog owners to try and stop these things."
Where children were concerned one of her tips was to never leave young children alone with a dog.
Dog owners needed to ensure their dogs were appropriately trained and socialised, she said.
Clough said she would also like to see a mandatory dog bite reporting system introduced to get a clearer picture on how many dog bite incidents there were.
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