Dog injured by Kawarau River party rubbish

An injury to a dog walking the Twin Rivers Trail has caused a community call-out to keep the beach clean.

It also highlights a missing component to the Lakes Hayes and Shotover Country housing estates - there aren't any spaces for youth.

Lake Hayes Estate resident Patricia Kirchoff's pup Nina ran through broken glass on Monday afternoon by the Kawarau River, at the back of the housing estate. 

Alcohol bottles left behind by partygoers on the Kawarau River (Photo/Supplied).

"There were lots of glass bottles, and some were broken...there had obviously been a get-together of some sort."

Ms Kirchoff says the glass was left at the beach at the end of the dirt track off Widgeon Place.  

She says her dog was bleeding and limping, but the cut will heal up on its own.

"It could have easily been a lot worse because the broken glass could have gone through her paw, she was very lucky.

"Hopefully, people can be a bit more mindful. It is a nice spot, so it would be nice if we could all keep it clean."

Lakes Hayes and Shotover Community Association chairperson Anita Golden believes part of the issue of riverside rubbish stems from there not being spaces for young people to hang out.

So instead, they congregate by the river at the back of the housing estate. 

"We have a lot of young people here and not a lot for them to do...and it's a big area, it's hard to keep an eye on it," Ms Golden says. 

Ms Golden says it had been part of the plan to use the community building on 516 Ladies Mile to provide a space for teenagers living in the two housing areas.

She says there had been discussions around having movie nights at the facility and bringing in pool tables for the young people to use.

But she says they are back to square one after it was revealed the house is ridden with toxic mould. 

However, she reckons, with "all that land up there", there could be a case for putting a rugby room building or similar there in the future. 

Ms Golden agrees the broken glass and other rubbish left behind in the same spot where people are walking their dogs and it can enter the river is a problem.

Main image (Supplied): Queenstown canine Nina, a cross between a Black Labrador and and German Wirehead Pointer (left), and the cut on her leg (right). 

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