Former nun’s poodles need a new home
Friends of a woman believed to have been run over and killed by her own car are asking for help finding a home for her two dogs, which were with her when she died.
Marie Ann Pearman’s body was found on Alfred St in Onehunga on Monday morning, near where her car had gone into the estuary.
Police said initial inquiries indicated the 77-year-old had been run over by her own car and had died at the scene.
Pearman’s two poodles — Jacques, aged 11, and Nifty, 7 — were with her at the time.
A keen dog lover, who entered canine agility competitions, she is understood to have walked the pair daily in nearby Waikaraka Park.
The Herald on Sunday understands Pearman had been an avid traveller, visiting countries including Iran and Thailand. She was also an enthusiastic member of the Epsom Remuera
Croquet Club and had been a nun in the past.
Pearman didn’t leave behind instructions about who should look after the dogs, being unmarried and having not had children.
Fellow dog agility competitor Matilda van Rijnberk helped get Pearman’s dogs out of the pound following the accident and said when they visited Pearman’s home to collect the dogs’ toys, they were clearly upset.
“They didn’t understand, they were sitting in dog crates in my car at their house and wondering, ‘Where’s my mum?’,” van Rijnberk said.
The pair are now staying at the foster home of a woman who used to meet Pearman and her poodles at Waikaraka Park.
“You could tell the dogs knew her already,” van Rijnberk said.
However the woman does not want to keep the dogs and homes are being sought.