It's a sight no-one ever wants to – or should have to – wake up to.

A flock of sheep on a lifestyle property on Princess Road in Bellevue have been savaged by what's believed to be a pack of roaming dogs early this morning.

In total 12 sheep were killed or had to be put down. Only two lambs survived.

The flock were owned by Bellevue locals Basil and Ann Graeme who've kept sheep on their property for more than 40 years, explains their daughter Kate.

'They're pretty traumatised as you can probably understand. The whole neighbourhood is, the ewes and lambs were pretty friendly and the kids in the area loved them. They were kind of like the neighbourhood pets.

'The flock were there to keep the grass down and were kept in a fenced paddock. By the looks of it, we think several dogs were involved.”

The family have also just recently discovered Ann and Basil's neighbour's chickens have also disappeared and it is presumed they were attacked by the same dogs

Ann says in the 40-plus years they've kept sheep on their property this is the first time anything like this has happened. She describes the attack as 'simply gruesome”.

The family have since notified the Tauranga City Council dog ranger and police of the attack.

'We are worried for people's safety because it is s likely that these dogs will attack again,” says Kate.

The family are asking Bellevue locals who see a pack of dogs roaming the streets to contact the Tauranga City Council on 577-7000.