\u201cThe dog involved was known to the occupants of the address and lived at the property.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tributes have been left outside the house where the attack happened yesterday. Photo \/ Anna Leask<\/p>\n
Overend confirmed this morning that the dog had been removed from the Basingstoke St property and police had been in touch with Christchurch City Council animal control. <\/p>\n
\u201cPolice are continuing to make inquiries into the fatal dog attack in Aranui yesterday,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis includes speaking with those who live at the home, as well as providing them with support.\u201d<\/p>\n
Christchurch East MP Reuben Davidson told RNZ the death was a tragedy for the family and the wider community.<\/p>\n
Councillor for the Burwood Ward Kelly Barber said his first thoughts were with the child\u2019s family.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a very sad situation, and my first thoughts were with the family and how devastated they must be at the loss of their child,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI also hope there is something we can learn from the ongoing police investigation that reduces the likelihood of this ever happening again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Safekids, the national injury prevention service of Starship Children\u2019s Health, issued a statement about the death.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of the tamaiti in Christchurch, and our heartfelt condolences go out to their wh\u0101nau, friends and community at this incredibly difficult time,\u201d the agency said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are no words that can ease the pain of losing a child. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur thoughts are with everyone grieving such a devastating loss.\u201d<\/p>\n
News of the child\u2019s death has also attracted online support from the community. <\/p>\n
People have been posting on various social media pages to send condolences to the family. <\/p>\n
Flowers have also been left at the entrance to the property. <\/p>\n
A man who lives on the street and knows the family posted: \u201cThis is a sad day for the street community. I live in this street, and the victim\u2019s family are very quiet, nice people.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have a huge dog always sitting looking out the window when I pass by. Please pray for the grieving family members… What I have witnessed is absolutely heartbreaking.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAs someone who\u2019s [sic] dog has unfortunately bitten a child before I am hurting for this family,\u201d another person posted on a community page. <\/p>\n
\u201cWay too much heartbreak to bear. Absolutely feel for the family for the loss of their loved family members \u2013 pooch is family too,\u201d another said. <\/p>\n
One woman wrote: \u201cSo much aroha to the wh\u0101nau right now, rest in love little one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another said: \u201cThis is the saddest news\u2026 condolences to the family facing this horrific time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many urged people not to speculate on what had happened at the house and jump to conclusions about the dog. <\/p>\n
\u201cKeep comments respectful\u2026 regarding the dog attack\u2026. Don\u2019t start with the swearing and blaming the owner \u2013 you don\u2019t know the circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n
On another page, a woman wrote: \u201cHaving been bitten myself and knowing the horror of that, this would be horrific for both the child and those seeing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy heart goes out to the little p\u0113pi, first responders and animal control for this horrible event,\u201d another said. <\/p>\n
\u201cKia kaha to the wh\u0101nau of this p\u0113pi.\u201d<\/p>\n
Overend said police also extended their condolences to the child\u2019s family and loved ones at this time and asked that their privacy be respected.<\/p>\n
The child\u2019s death follows similar tragedies in the North Island. <\/p>\n
Mihiata Te Rore, 62, died in 2026 after she was fatally injured by a dog when visiting a property in Kaihu, Northland.<\/p>\n
In 2025, a child died after being attacked by a dog in the Western Bay of Plenty. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThe dog involved was known to the occupants of the address and lived at the property.\u201d Tributes have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":569447,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3648,181192,1975,89,1558,2511,4487,10474,634,9219,11784,71,22263,1345,676,2205,111,43,139,239494,69,1118,675,5196,540,102],"class_list":["post-569446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-animal","tag-aranui","tag-at","tag-attack","tag-been","tag-child","tag-christchurch","tag-control","tag-death","tag-dog","tag-fatal","tag-from","tag-happened","tag-home","tag-investigate","tag-involved","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-notified","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-police","tag-removed","tag-where","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=569446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/569447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=569446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=569446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=569446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}