Two Taranaki people dealt with by the courts after illegally taking their dogs into Egmont National Park say they realise they were wrong and are urging other dog-lovers not to put wildlife at risk.

The pair were granted diversion by the New Plymouth District Court on August 26 after admitting to charges brought by the Department of Conservation of allowing dogs into a national park. Both agreed to undertake volunteer work in the park as part of the court’s conditions.

Dogs are banned from all national parks because of the threat they pose to native wildlife, particularly kiwi.

After their court appearance, the pair - Wendy Phillips and Neil Piebenga, agreed to speak out in the hope of encouraging other dog owners not to make the same mistake. Both said their actions could have had dire consequences for kiwi, which are in declining numbers in the park.

At least three kiwi have died in Taranaki since last year following dog attacks. The most recent death in Egmont National Park was that of Sunny, an adult female kiwi released in January after surviving life-threatening injuries, only to be crushed by a dog illegally taken into the park two months later.

Mr Piebenga said he had not intentionally taken his dog into the park, but because it always travelled with him, he had got caught out when called in to complete some building work in the area. Like many dog owners, he said he had mistakenly believed that it could not or would not harm native wildlife.

“I guess it’s a classic view that no-one thinks their dog is going to do anything wrong, and love taking their dog with them wherever they go - but the simple message is that you can’t go into the park with your dog, no matter how good you think it is.

“The last thing I would ever want to do is jeopardise a kiwi, so I hope this makes people realise that no matter how much you love your dog, it’s still a dog, and you have to leave it at home, because it can still kill a kiwi.”

Ms Phillips also encouraged dog owners to avoid getting caught out by leaving their pets at home if going into the national park. “Because the dog is part of the family we just didn’t think about it till it was too late but the rules are completely understandable. You just can’t bring your dog into the park.”

DOC Stratford Area Manager Rex Hendry said kiwi had a strong smell that dogs could quickly pick up on, and were virtually ‘sitting ducks’ while sleeping during the day.

“It only takes a few minutes for a dog to kill an adult bird, so just one loose family pet could potentially wipe out our entire kiwi population in a single day. It doesn’t matter if it’s a chihuahua or the family Labrador – to a kiwi it’s still deadly,” he said.

Mr Hendry said both DOC and the Taranaki Kiwi Trust were fighting to save the last 30-40 pairs of kiwi on Mt Taranaki, which were already struggling for survival against introduced predators such as stoats and rats – without the added problem of dogs being brought illegally into the national park.

This meant the department was taking a “zero tolerance” approach to dogs in the park and would prosecute anyone caught with one.

“The sad thing is that we could stop these kiwi deaths tomorrow if more dog owners did the right thing by simply leaving their animals at home when visiting our national parks. There are plenty of other safe, public places where people can exercise their dogs, so there isn’t really any excuse for it,” Mr Hendry said.

Anyone convicted of illegally taking a dog into a national park can be fined up to $10,000 or face up to 12 months’ jail.