Editorial: Dog or owner? Both to blame

I've been away from work for a few days and came back yesterday to read the front-page story of how a dog has attacked a teenager in the Bay.

The 13-year-old girl was walking past a neighbour's driveway when the dog sunk its teeth into her, leaving her with upper arm injuries.

This attack was said to be unprovoked and has left her scared of her own family dog.

And, just to make a traumatic situation even worse, her mother had to drive the poor girl to hospital because emergency services were tied up on another emergency.

The culprit? A pitbull.

We shouldn't be surprised.

These ugly dogs feature too prominently in dog attack statistics and news stories and it's high time something was done.

Last year, we examined the issue of dangerous dogs in our Inside Story section in the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend after a particularly vicious attack raised huge debate.

We also published some alarming figures.

American pitbull terriers were the biggest biters in the Bay, accounting for 18 per cent of attacks yet made up just 1 per cent of the Tauranga dog population.

There have been at least eight pitbull attacks over the past couple of years.

Of course, every time one of these attacks happens, it raises the age-old argument of whether the dog is at fault or whether the owner is at fault.

In my view, both are to blame.

There are bad dogs and bad owners. Put them together and we have a potentially explosive mix.

So, what should be done?

On the face of it, it seems to me the country's dog laws have plenty of teeth.

Examples include owners having to ensure that when on their property their dog is under control or cannot freely leave, people being banned from owning a dog for up to five years under certain circumstances and councils placing restrictions on owners and ordering them to undertake education programmes or a dog obedience course.

Importantly, four breeds cannot be imported into New Zealand. They are american pit bulls, dogo argentino, brazilian fila, and japanese tosa.

Other breeds or types can be added to the list after an Order in Council is agreed by Parliament.

Fines can range up to $20,000 and owners of dogs that cause serious injury can be jailed.

But these laws are not enough and attacks like the one this week will continue to happen unless something more dramatic is done.

All owners of these four breeds branded by the Government as dangerous should themselves be licensed and demonstrate they are responsible.

Any of these dogs found unregistered should be rehomed and their owners banned from ever owning a dog again.

If these measures fail, then these breeds should be banned completely.

The owner involved in this latest outrage has co-operated with authorities.

So they should.

The dog will be rightly destroyed, and police say the dog's owner may be prosecuted.

It is imperative the owner is prosecuted to set an example to other dog owners.