Last updated 05:00 12/02/2011
A little blue penguin is in Massey University's wildlife centre after it was attacked this week.
The bird was handed into the Waitara branch of Inglewood Veterinary Services after being picked up at Waitoetoe Beach. Vet Matthew Knight and nurse Hanna Sutherland flushed and cleaned sand from its wounds, applied a manuka honey antiseptic and bandaged the bird in preparation for a trip south.
It was the second report the Conservation Department received this week of a little blue penguin being attacked by a dog .
"These attacks are really disappointing," marine ranger Callum Lilley said.
"We had another at Back Beach earlier in the week and they're so preventable. All people have to do is keep their dogs on a leash or at the very least watch and control them closely. If they chase seagulls they'll catch a penguin. They're easy game."
Ngamotu Marine Reserve Society member Elise Smith urged dog owners to recognise the birds were residents along the beach.
"They've got nowhere else to go and some, like our reef herons, are really quite rare. Each bird is an individual and people can get to recognise them. They're well worth protecting."
- Taranaki Daily News
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