Western Bay of Plenty District Council says dog attacks have increased this year, and could continue to increase with the growing dog population in the region.

Animal services team leader Peter Hrstich says 'several factors” could reflect dog attack numbers, such as weather and holiday makers bringing their dogs to the Western Bay of Plenty.

'Sometimes there is no obvious reason why the numbers go up or down. We want to encourage dog owners to ensure they look after their best mate's interests and don't let them make bad decisions.”

In the last 12 months, from July 2022 to June 2023, the Western Bay of Plenty District Council has seen 158 reports of dogs attacking people or animals. In the previous 12 months, from July 2021 to June 2022, there have been 120 reports of dog attacks in the last 12 months.

When it comes to protecting the public from dog attacks, Peter says community safety is the council's 'top priority”.

'We take every reasonable opportunity to educate dog owners about responsible dog ownership, but incidents will still happen. We have a few different tools to respond to these incidents, including written warnings, infringements, menacing and dangerous classifications and neutering and these are applied after each incident is investigated on a case-by-case basis.

'We can ‘impound' and ‘seize' a dog, if we believe it poses a threat while we investigate an incident. But only the courts have the power to require a dog to be euthanised, unless the owner volunteers to surrender it for euthanasia.

'Responding to these complaints is mostly funded through dog registration fees, which help to keep our dogs and community safe.”

Peter says prosecution is viewed as an option when there is an 'ongoing threat” to the safety of the community.

'Then, the Courts can apply a penalty. Our team investigate each incident, assess it on a case by case basis and seek legal advice where necessary.”