Dog owners are being urged to ensure their dogs are properly confined and not roaming around following a noticeable increase in dog attacks and wandering dogs.

Last week, Wairoa District Council staff attended two dog attacks on people, one particularly severe.

Wairoa District Council chief executive Kitea Tipuna said these attacks are terrible for everyone involved, especially the victims, and the main way to avoid these types of attacks is to keep all dogs appropriately confined and always controlled.

“Council’s role is to enforce the law set down by Central Government, which aims to keep people safe. Any high-risk incidents will result in owners being made accountable for their lack of reliability of being an owner for the future.

“If dogs are not controlled and they are impounded the owners will be fined. Further action can be taken in which the owner can be disqualified or Court action for a high-risk incidence.

“We don’t want dog attacks to be occurring and our team of compliance officers will be enforcing the rules. We need dog owners to act responsibly and keep their dogs under control to avoid this impacting on our communities

“Dog attacks are not a Council problem; they are a dog owner problem, and we ask that dog owners please make a real effort to act responsibly- for the safety of our community.

“Thank you to the majority of people who are responsible dog owners and those who call us due to dogs roaming or causing a nuisance. However, we need all dog owners to be responsible so we can avoid further dog related attacks.”

If you become aware of a dog related issue, or need assistance to contain your dog, please phone 06 838 7309 immediately.

23 May 2022

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