He was ordered in court to remove a Facebook page that contained threats, harassment, abuse and harm to a woman attacked by the dog it promoted, but Ryan Tarawhiti-Brown claims he is the victim of a “witch hunt” that has gone on for more than two years.

Ryan ran the Facebook page Team Chopper, in support of his mother Helen Fraser’s Rottweiler.

Chopper was euthanised by court order on August 21, following a lengthy court battle over a 2021 incident where Chopper bit Tauranga vet Liza Schneider, leaving her with a broken arm, nerve damage and permanent scarring. She underwent two surgeries.

Helen was convicted of being the owner of a dog that attacked and seriously injured a person.

Days after Chopper was put down, Liza took Ryan and Meta to court under the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015, asking that Ryan disable the page, refrain from further mention of her, and publish an apology.

In court documents obtained by Stuff dated August 31, Liza said that the physical injuries from the attack paled in significance “compared to the psychological damage caused by subsequent harassment.”

Liza and her practice were mentioned by name several times on the Facebook page, court documents reveal.

Comments posted on the page included death threats, wishing her to “pay with life or limb”, she be “put asleep” and that her time “was coming”. Comments called her abusive names.

The abusive posts in the court documents were not made by Ryan.

In an affidavit, Liza said her practice’s Google page had been bombarded with fake reviews, which she alleged were incited by the Team Chopper page.

Her practice’s own Facebook page had received numerous “threatening and abusive messages”, which often contained threats to harm or kill Liza, and in one instance, to set fire to her veterinary practice.

The effect on her and her team’s mental and emotional wellbeing was relentless and debilitating, she says. Her staff needed counselling and two needed pharmaceutical support. Both Liza and the clinic needed security measures due to the nature of the threats.

An interim judgment in August, previously suppressed, ordered Ryan to take down the page and remove references to Liza. A technical advisor was appointed by the judge to assist the court about the scope of appropriate takedown orders of Facebook and to review the posts.

During a second court hearing in October, Ryan’s lawyer Bev Edwards accepted that he had not complied with the interim order to take down the page, but had instead changed the nature of the page to promote rights for cats and dogs.

In a judgement on November 13, Ryan, who now lives in Australia, was ordered to disable or take down the page, which had almost 20,000 followers.

The judge ruled that the digital communications on the Facebook page had been “threatening” to Liza and “amount to harassment of her, and had caused her “ongoing psychological harm”.

In his ruling, Judge Cameron – the same judge who had made the decision to euthanise Chopper – ordered that Ryan must disable or take down the page immediately, cease and refrain from any digital communication about Liza, or identifying her directly or indirectly and must not encourage any other person to do so.

“The legal system is against dogs and all I have done is stand up for dogs. This ruling is a sad day for freedom in New Zealand,” says Ryan.

The judge did not order any apology and asked each person to pay costs. He also lifted suppression of the case.

A spokesperson for the New Zealand Veterinary Association, also speaking on behalf of Liza, says they both did not want to talk about it “as there are still some issues”.

Ryan has now renamed the page Chopper’s Legacy, and wants to make it a charity to fundraise for animal rescue centres.

He told Stuff that he agreed there had been “some horrible private messages” but “both sides have suffered abuse”.

“I’m tired of this witch hunt that has gone on for over two years. It has now been five court cases in two years, and we just want to move on.”

He did his “absolute best” to remove anything on the page that he saw as pushing boundaries, but with up to 6000 interactions daily, he couldn’t remove them all, he says.

He told Stuff he believed people should be allowed to express “opinions that go against a narrative”.

“People shared their opinion on the case in comments for both sides of the argument. For our supporters, it’s understandable that they are upset, as it is common knowledge that dogs are anxious around clinics.”

Chopper’s owner, Helen Fraser was charged with owning a dangerous dog. Photo: Christel Yardley/Stuff

Meta was dropped from the case as respondent, as “orders against Facebook/Meta are fraught with difficulties, including jurisdictional ones, and so the application against those organisations is discontinued”.

A Meta spokesperson told Stuff in August that a team was reviewing the posts and page.

Facebook’s Community Standards prohibit bullying, hate and harassment – and a page owner or administrator must comply with the standards even if posts are made by others.

What to do about online abuse

If you’re concerned about your immediate safety, call police on 111.

• Email help@netsafe.org.nz
• Call toll free on 0508 NETSAFE (0508 638 723)
• Online report at netsafe.org.nz/report
• Text ‘Netsafe’ to 4282
• Capture electronic evidence.
• Report threatening comments to Facebook –here’s how.
• Netsafe is approved by the police to receive complaints about online abuse assess whether they fall in the remit of the HDCA, and advise what to do.
• The HDCA includes criminal offences which are investigated by the police.

Annemarie Quill/Stuff