About 8 months after I started this petition and had contacted Auckland Council I received a phone call from an arborist company. They told me they got the go ahead from Auckland council to remove these trees. I didn’t return to the park, to me it wasn’t worth the risk if there were loose berries on the ground after the tree removal. 

A day ago I found out that the trees had not actually been removed. I learnt this because a man reached out to me after reading this petition. His dog died last week after eating a Karaka berry at home. He is a regular at Meola and he let me know these trees are still present in the dog park. He has witnessed first hand how devastatingly toxic these berries are to dogs.

These trees have no place in a dog park and urgentlyneed to be removed. Yes, they are a native, and yes our native birds do use these berries as a food source, however there are safe options on where to plant these trees. A dog park is the most dangerous place for these trees to exist, something needs to be done.