Gisborne's dog problem by numbers

JUST over 500 dogs were euthanised in the past year, Gisborne District Council’s environment and planning committee was told.

The committee adopted the annual report on dog control policy and practices for the year running from July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017.

There were 1161 dogs impounded during the year, of which 505 were euthanised in the pound, 408 were claimed, 96 rehomed, 79 returned, 59 sent to the SPCA and eight destroyed in the field, the report said.

Officers made every effort to find homes for unwanted, impounded dogs that were suitable for rehoming.

New initiatives including Facebook and the council’s website advertising dogs eligible for adoption had increased the number rehomed.

Dog control officers dealt with 1111 general complaints during the year, compared with 937 the previous year. That was an average of 230 complaints a month, an increase from 214 a month last year.

That included 52 cases of dogs attacking people and 71 attacking animals. There were 146 complaints of dogs rushing at people and 11 of rushing at animals.

Barking and roamingBarking dogs attracted 304 complaints. Roaming dog numbers (904) were trending upwards, increasing from 860 last year.

Officers had adopted a targeted approach to patrolling in risk areas and those from which frequent complaints were received.

There are 13 dangerous dogs among the 11,532 registered by 6013 owners.

Enforcement manager Jim Single said infringement notices had been sent to all owners of unregistered dogs. Owners who did not register their dogs faced a fine of $300.

Committee chairwoman Pat Seymour asked if it would be fair to assume that most of the dogs that attacked people had been destroyed.

Mr Single said if the council attended an incident that was not serious enough to be prosecuted, in most cases the dog would be signed over and a deal would be done to avoid prosecution.

If an owner was prosecuted, the dog would usually be destroyed.

Andy Cranston asked what happened if the owner acquired a pitbull the next day. Mr Single said if there were three unrelated incidents that required an infringement notice during an infringement period, or one conviction, the owner must be disqualified under the act.