Replacement statue of Rotorua’s icon dog to be revealed

A bronze sculpture of stray dog Harawene was stolen in March but will this week be replaced. Photo / NZME
A new sculpture to replace the stolen bronze replica of beloved Rotorua stray dog, Harawene, will be revealed on Wednesday.
Rotorua sculptor George Andrews agreed to recreate the replica after Auckland farmer Alan Cato offered to pay up to $10,000 for costs, including the months of work to complete the sculpture.
The original life-size memorial stood on a large rock in an area where Harawene used to roam beside Te Ngae Rd, opposite Robinson Ave. The statue was there from 2009 until the end of March, when it was noticed missing over Easter Weekend.
Residents are invited to attend the unveiling at 1pm on Wednesday.
Fiona Cairns, who was involved in the first fundraising mission, said it would be fantastic to see Harawene back in her rightful place.
“I want to show those people who took the last one that we are still here and we are angry she was stolen and we want her to stay exactly where she is.”
She said it was unacceptable to steal the sculpture and it was up to the community to protect it.
“That is Ngāti Whakaue land she’s standing on and if they steal, they are imposing on a culture as well when they do this sort of thing.”
She said bronze was worth “bugger all” but the cost was in the time and process needed to make a quality bronze sculpture.
Cairns said the community was “so grateful” to Cato for paying for Andrews’ expertise.
She said she hoped there would be a good crowd at Wednesday’s unveiling but asked everyone attending to be careful as Te Ngae Rd was a busy area.
Police were to be notified to help with traffic management.
The first tribute to Harawene was erected following a $10,000 community-led fundraising mission. It honoured the much-loved stray terrier-cross after she was suspected to have been run over.
Her theft this year prompted a public outcry, which was when Cato stepped forward and offered to fund the replacement.
Harawene ran away from her owner and spent her life sitting on the side of the busy highway, watching traffic. She didn’t allow anyone to approach her but was fed daily by residents in the area, who also erected a small A-frame dog shelter.
There was an outpouring of emotion after Harawene disappeared, presumably run over, in April 2008.
The statue of Harawene was unveiled on the Ngāti Whakaue Tribal Lands site just over a year after her disappearance.
A plaque describes the statue as a “memorial of affection” to Harawene, “a treasured pet of the people of Rotorua”.
The statue was cut off from the rock it stood on and only its paws remained.
The missing statue was reported to police but no one was ever charged with its theft.
When Cato offered to pay to have the statue recreated, the original plaster moulds made by the original sculptor, the late Fridtjof Hanson from Taranaki, were pulled out of storage and sculptor Andrews got to work.
The outcry after the theft was such that Hong Kong pilot Ross Dawson, an animal lover who was born and bred in Taupō, offered a $5000 reward for the safe return or information leading to the conviction of the thief or thieves of the stolen Harawene statue, but no one came forward.
Dawson, who funds many animal charities, is Taupō-born and bred but hasn’t lived in New Zealand for 40 years.
Coincidentally, he was in Rotorua on Monday but was unable to stay until Wednesday for the public revealing.
He told the Rotorua Daily Post he went to the site on the side of the road where the memorial rock was to “pay his respects”.
Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.