Dog attacks on the rise in Western Bay

More people and animals are being attacked by aggressive dogs in the Western Bay, with animal control officers tackling a rise in dogs roaming the streets.
Combined figures from Tauranga City Council and Western Bay of Plenty District Council also revealed that at least 19 people had already been attacked and three owners had been prosecuted in the last six months.
They showed that in the 2009-2010 reporting year, there was an increase in infringements, dogs attacking people and animals, dogs roaming and rushing other animals and dogs classified as dangerous or as menacing.
The reporting period covers the year to the end of May in Tauranga, and the year to the end of June in Western Bay.
Serious attacks between that period included a bull terrier-cross tearing a large chunk of flesh from a Pyes Pa woman's arm in March, and a german shepherd attacking a TrustPower meter reader in the lower Kaimais in July last year.
Among the serious cases in the current reporting year were separate attacks that left two people hospitalised, and the savaging of a Tauranga woman's purebred pomeranian in Yatton Park in July by four dogs whose owner has not yet been found.
The has also been a jump in registered dogs, from 15,681 over the 2008/09 year to 16351 in the past financial year.
As at September 30, there were 16,156 dogs registered in the Western Bay.
In Tauranga, owners of any dogs found to be unregistered were hit with a $300 fine.
Tauranga City Council animal services team leader Brent Lincoln said 98 per cent of all known dogs in the city were registered, which was the council's target.
At September 30, there were 227 Western Bay dogs classed as menacing, largely because of their breed; and 60 classed as dangerous, due to their behaviour.
Mr Lincoln said American pitbull terriers were by far the biggest biters, accounting for 18 per cent of attacks yet constituting just 1 per cent of the Tauranga dog population.
Other problem breeds were staffordshire bull terriers, german shepherds and labrador retrievers.
Across the Bay, 38 people had been rushed by dogs in the first four months of this financial year.
Mr Lincoln described "rushing" as a dog running at a person in a public place and making them feel intimidated or scared, while physical contact between a person and a dog constituted an attack.
The penalty for the owner depended on the incident, he said.
"We rate it and depending on how serious it is, we'll warn them, fine them or prosecute them."
There had also been 290 cases of roaming dogs, 250 barking complaints, 190 infringements issued and eight owners were recorded as disqualified.
Despite the leaps in other areas, the total number of dogs impounded fell from 1037 to 913 between the 2008/09 and 2009/10 years.
A total of 318 dogs had been impounded as at September.