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The partner of a Far North man killed by his friend’s dogs hopes others will learn from the “complacency” that led to his death – including her own decision not to report an earlier attack in which she was the victim.

It was a mistake she’d never make again, Shirley Orchard told the Herald as she urged others to learn from the death of her long-time partner Neville Thomson.

The Panguru grandfather was mauled to death by a pack of his friend Abel Wira’s dogs in August 2022, leading to a jury finding Wira guilty of manslaughter in August – the first conviction of its kind in New Zealand.

Wira, 60, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years’ jail when he appeared in the High Court at Whangārei on Friday.

 
Abel Wira at the High Court at Whangārei during his manslaughter trial. Wira's dogs killed his friend Neville Thomson in 2022.

However, while her partner of 17 years was a victim, he wasn’t an innocent one, Shirley Orchard said.

The Auckland-based grandmother was on the phone to Thomson when the attack occurred, describing the sound of his final moments as resembling a pack of hyenas attacking, followed by a silence that would never be broken, but which also initially gave Orchard hope Thomson had survived.

“Cognitive dissonance” is how Orchard described her initial feeling Thomson had escaped harm, despite what she’d heard over the phone.

The couple were in a romantic relationship for more than a decade and a half, mostly long-distance after meeting at a mutual friend’s house in Waiuku, she said.

“Neville was a colourful character who was charismatic and charming, and he also had a very accepting nature.”

The 69-year-old allowed his friend Wira and Wira’s more than 20 dogs – including at least five adults known to be aggressive – to stay in a caravan on his property for months before the fatal attack, Orchard said.

“Sadly, Neville’s complacency led to ... his own demise, leaving his family traumatised and devastated.

“The dog saw a stranger that morning as Neville had shaved off his beard the previous evening. But this could have been the fate of any unsuspecting visitor.”

Neville Thomson was known as an animal lover who had two dogs of his own.

She’d been one herself after Thomson previously asked her to “come outside and meet Abel’s lovely dogs”.

“I was attacked by one and noticed the others rushing over to join in. Abel intervened and I ran into the house. I was shocked but unharmed, as the dog got a mouthful of my baggy jeans, not me.”

She was furious after a boarder told her he’d also been attacked by the dogs, and felt both Thomson and Wira had “blatant disregard” for the safety of anyone visiting the property – including children encouraged to feed fish in an outside pond despite the caravan the dogs lived in with Wira not being secure.

“The caravan door had no working handle, opened outwards and [was] tied with a shoelace, or was propped closed with a stump of wood. It was a disaster waiting to happen.”

But like Wira, Thomson and others menaced or bitten by the dogs, she didn’t tell authorities, Orchard said.

She had to take responsibility for being among those who failed to report the danger the dogs posed.

“I didn’t report it as I wasn’t injured, but I refused to be anywhere near those dogs from then on. Neville and [his boarder] did not report when those dogs attacked them.

“Later it became apparent there were more victims, all friends of Abel’s. None of them reported it. Abel himself suffered a serious attack requiring hospital treatment. He certainly didn’t report it. Did the hospital staff report it? I don’t know.”

Shirley Orchard and Neville Thomson were in a mostly long-distance romantic relationship for 17 years.

Evidence heard in court during Wira’s trial also revealed the dogs, which he kept confined in a caravan and sometimes unfed for days, had also mauled the ears off a neighbour’s pig.

Orchard said she’d since read there’d been a 40% increase in dog incidents reported to ACC since 2015, and that Dog Safe Workplace director Jo Clough this year said fewer than 20% of dog bites are reported.

She would never again fail to report an instance of dangerous dogs, and she encouraged others to take the same approach.

“We need to do better, otherwise we are complicit. While it’s hard to call out and hold irresponsible dog owners to account, especially families and friends, we need to be brave and speak out.

“Not doing so allows for a culture of sweeping the threat of dangerous dogs under the rug, resulting in tragedies like this.”

Cherie Howie is an Auckland-based reporter who joined the Herald in 2011. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years and specialises in general news and features.