The Star: July 06, 2017

The Star 9
News
Latest Christchurch news at www.
.kiwi
Thursday July 6 2017
Fundraiser pays for vet bills
• By Gabrielle Stuart
AFTER BEING attacked by a
knife-wielding man in her home
two years ago, Pip Clark felt she
had seen the worst of humanity.
But last week, she said she saw
the best.
People have donated more
than $6500 to help pay her vet
bills for her five-year-old standard
poodle, Charlie, who needed
an expensive operation on his
intestines.
Ms Clark credited Charlie for
saving her life when she was attacked
by the intruder two years
ago.
She was getting ready for work
in November, 2015, when she
came across the intruder. He
started punching her, then went
at her with a knife, slicing her
forearm, she said.
That was when Charlie arrived
and ran at the attacker, scaring
him off. Police were called, but
the man has not been found.
Ms Clark said Charlie was
her hero, not only during the
attack but in the months afterward
when she felt unsafe at
home.
Last month, Charlie became
very sick. The vet found his
intestines were blocked, and he
THANKFUL: Pip Clark cares for five-year-old poodle Charlie at
Pet Doctors after a stomach operation.
PHOTO: MARTIN HUNTER
would need an operation.
She said it came at a terrible
time as she was only working
part-time herself because of her
own medical problems, so she
was struggling financially.
But after an article in The Star
last week, she said donations
had poured in – just one day
after it ran she said she had
more than enough to pay for the
operation, and she asked Givealittle
to close the page.
“Some people donated $500,
which shocked me, and others
said I don’t have much but here’s
$10. I know that’s a huge deal
when you don’t have much,” she
said.
She said all the care and
well-wishes from strangers had
meant a lot.
“I was so stressed and so overwhelmed
by it all, and this, all
the donations and the messages,
has meant such a lot,” she said.
“In my life I’ve seen mostly
the worst of humanity, unfortunately,
so this has restored my
faith, I suppose.”
She said Charlie had to go
back to the vet several times
after the operation because of
complications, but he was now
recovering.
“I thought he was going to
die three times, and after going
through that I’m so exhausted
but I’m so thankful. I don’t
know what I would have done
without him,” she said.
Dirty tunnel
cops criticism
• By Caitlin Miles
THE CLEANLINESS of the
Lyttelton Tunnel is in the spotlight.
Lyttelton Community Association
chairman Ken Maynard said
the state of the tunnel has “been a
problem for a while.”
“There are black streaks down
the walls. It needs a general spring
clean,” Mr Maynard said.
New Zealand Transport Agency
is in charge of the tunnel’s maintenance
– it receives about one
complaint every month.
NZTA maintenance contract
manager Barry Stratton said since
the February 22, 2011, earthquake
things had got worse.
“There are a number of reasons
why the tunnel is currently, and
since the earthquakes, a much
dirtier environment than it used
to be,” Mr Stratton said.
After the tunnel was reopened
following the earthquake, up to
eight tonnes of dirt and dust was
cleared every month.
As a result, last year NZTA
made the Covered Loads bylaw
to stop loose material flying off
trucks and settling in the tunnel.
Since then the most recent dust
count has more than halved.
The tunnel walls are washed
every three weeks, but Mr Maynard
said it needs to be done more often.
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