North Shore Times (New Zealand)
Grisly discoveries on foreshore
DISTRESSING CONTENT: A ‘‘fleshy’’ animal carcass and a section of animal skin have been found just five days apart along the Takapuna coastline.
The skin, over one metre in length, was found by Takapuna resident Brent McCarty at 7.45am, while walking his dog on Takapuna Beach on February 20.
‘‘What drew my attention to it was that my dog, as well as other dogs, were going to that spot and that’s when I found the skin,’’ McCarty said.
‘‘Analysing it, the skin on the inside was still quite pink, so it had been freshly put there. I would say it would have been put there within 24 hours, or 12. I have no doubt it was a dog.’’
The animal carcass was found by Milford resident Cristine Douglas around 1.30pm, on February 25, on St Leonards Beach.
Douglas was less certain what animal the carcass was, but at around 1 metre in length said it could certainly be a dog. She said it didn’t look old, and ‘‘obviously had flesh on it’’.
‘‘I’m not actually saying it’s a dog but what is it? Because you find fish heads, you find eels, dead birds, penguins, but not that,’’ Douglas said.
‘‘The seagulls were having a good time with it so obviously there was flesh on it.’’
Upon finding the skin on the foreshore near the Takapuna Beach playground, McCarty placed it in a nearby rubbish bin using a plastic bag.
He then rang DevonportTakapuna Local Board member Mike Sheehy who notified Takapuna police station in person about the dog skin.
Takapuna constable Erik Bakker said they have made several inquiries about the incident but there were very limited lines to pursue the matter further.
‘‘Takapuna Police are not aware of any reports from an owner of a dog matching that description,’’ Bakker said.
‘‘The item [skin] appears to have washed up on the beach and there are limitless places as to where it could have come from.
‘‘We are aware that some residents have expressed recent frustrations over dogs running freely on the beach, and wish to be quite clear; there is currently no evidence to suggest that this is the result of a person disgruntled with dogs running freely.’’
Upon finding the carcass five days later, Douglas had a friend who was with her call police and Auckland Council.