Stewart Witeri

UPDATE:

TVNZ have apologised for their mis-identification of Mr Witeri's dogs as follows:

"...And just before we go, clarification on a story we did in September...you'll remember it...a young boy attacked by four dogs as he rode his bike past a property near Matamata. At the time we told you, in good faith, the dogs were Greyhound Pit Bull crosses...but to set the record straight...we now accept they were infact Bull Terrier - Cattle Dog crosses. A small point you may think but we strive to get things right" (Paul Henry).

English Bull Terrier actually.

Original Article:

Fair, Balanced & Accurate? We Don't Think So.

If the media must insist on awarding themselves for excellence, professionalism, accuracy etc. etc., the least they can do is deliver.

A complaint has been laid with TVNZ regarding their breach of the Broadcasting Standards Act as follows:

Complaint: That Close Up, in it’s coverage of the dog attack on a 13yo boy, breached standards 4, 5 and 6 of the Broadcasting Standards Act (1989) i.e. the standards of accuracy, fairness and balance because:

1. The item was not accurate. Mr Stewart Witeri’s dogs are not Pit Bull x Greyhound but are in fact English Bull Terrier x Cattle dog.

2. The item was unfair. Mr Witeri has, as a result, been depicted as a Pit Bull owner (even at the cross bred level). In light of current public opinion of the Pit Bull Terrier and the sort of people who are believed to own them, this casts him in a dubious light.

3. The item lacked balance in that it failed to address the cause of this attack by consulting unbiased qualified professionals for the elucidation of the general public in the matter of natural canine pack behaviour (irrespective of breed or type), and instead sensationalised the issue by dwelling upon the details of the attack and injuries received, using such emotive descriptive language as “a snarling pack appeared from behind a hedge and chased down their quarry”, “…his body shredded” etc.

As a result, the public have even more entrenched misapprehensions about Pit Bulls, Mr Witeri has been depicted as a Pit Bull owning villain, and the duty to inform the public of the real facts and reality of the matter in the form of unbiased qualified opinion has been omitted.

It is therefore necessary for TVNZ to advise the public of this transgression of the Act and to publicly apologise to Mr Witeri at the same peak viewing time as this item aired.

Background:

Stewart Witeri of Waitoa had the appalling experience of having 4 of his pig dogs attack a 13yo boy riding past on his bike. The boy was severely injured. At court the judge handed down a sentence of 6 months community detention, 100 hours community work and ordered Stewart to pay $5k in reparation.

As regrettable as this child's ordeal is, no-one in the media has spared a thought for Stewart who was also badly injured trying to save this boy. Stewart was portrayed as the irresponsible transgressor, and the owner of a pack of vicious killer pit bull x grey hound dogs.

Utter bunk.

Firstly, Stewart's dogs are English Bull Terrier x Cattle dogs. Not a smidgeon of pittie in them.

Secondly, it never occured to Stewart that his dogs would ever bring down a human. Had he any idea, even on his quiet country road, this is a man who would never have let it happen.

Stewart is a man with a work ethic, well thought of by his employers, workmates and friends.

He has had to kill his loved hunting companions, appear on national television in the dock, and didn't get to speak about the trauma he has suffered also.

Granted, it is the responsibility of every dog owner to ensure that their dogs are restrained at all times. That is the law and there is no getting away from that.

But Stewart Witeri is human too, and from all accounts a good man.

Where is the fairness in ignoring the life-long effect of this hideous experience on Stewart? And where is the accuracy in describing him as a Pit Bull owner with all the ignominy that currently goes with that in the court of public opinion?

As in the recent mauling in Kapiti, the meatworks analogy has been used to describe the injuries suffered by this child.

In reality, any dog can inflict such injuries and if the media were as professional as they claim they would be responsible enough to advise the public of the real facts instead of taking advantage of this unfortunate situation to beat up the pit bull hype.

Once again, shame on them.