Dog attacks against people appear to have decreased for three out of four councils when comparing the first half of 2023 with the same period in previous years. One victim says it is time for dog owners to take more responsibility. Photo / Paul Taylor
Dog attacks against people appear to have decreased for three out of four councils when comparing the first half of 2023 with the same period in previous years. One victim says it is time for dog owners to take more responsibility. Photo / Paul Taylor
The victim of a Hastings dog attack says dog owners should be doing more to reduce the risk as the total number of attacks on people appears to have started decreasing across Hawke’s Bay.
Amorangi Taite was taking her regular morning walk down Flaxmere Ave on September 15 when shenoticed two dogs that appeared to be large rottweilers approaching her from across the street.
“I thought they were just coming to say ‘hi’ because I am a dog lover, so I put my hand out so they could sniff my hand,” Taite said.
“One was pushing on my side from the back of me and the other was in front of me. They started barking aggressively, then one bit me on the side on my right thigh.”
She said she had never been attacked by a dog before while on her walk, but her experience meant she had not walked in that area since.
“I am still anxious and still scared about what happened. I just don’t want it to happen to someone else [who] can’t defend themselves.”
She said responsibility for aggressive dogs and their actions came down to the owners and they should do more to give love to their dogs so they wouldn’t have aggression issues, and keep them in secure areas so they don’t escape.
“There are still going to be more dogs roaming the streets, I know.”
Amorangi Taite received six puncture wounds from bites to her thigh after she was attacked by two large roaming dogs during her morning walk in Flaxmere. Photo / Amorangi Taite
A Hastings District Council (HDC) spokesperson said the dogs that attacked Taite were unknown and have not been located yet as of Monday.
For the first half of 2023, from January 1 to June 30, HDC recorded 19 dog attacks on people.
This is just over a 30 per cent decrease from 28 over the same period in 2022 and nearly a 40 per cent decrease from 31 over the same period in 2021.
From January 1 to July 31 this year, Napier City Council (NCC) recorded 30 dog attacks on people.
For the same period in 2022, NCC recorded 35 dog attacks on people.
Wairoa District Council has recorded a significant reduction so far, with one dog attack against a person in the first seven months of 2023, compared with eight attacks over the same period in 2022.
Council chief executive Kitea Tipuna said the offending dog this year was a male ridgeback that had been brought into Wairoa from outside the district for the purpose of hunting.
“A focus has been looking after dogs that have been displaced as a result of Cyclone Gabrielle. Many dogs lost their homes, and part of the council’s ongoing recovery has been responding to roaming dogs and supporting displaced whānau and pets,” Tipuna said.
Central Hawke’s Bay District Council (CHBDC) was the only council that did not have a decrease from one period to the next, with eight attacks on people from January 1 to July 31, 2023.
This figure appears on track to be consistent or an increase compared with previous years, with CHBDC data showing three attacks over the 2021/2022 period, seven attacks over the 2020/2021 period, 14 over the 2019/2020 period and eight over the 2018/2019 period.
James Pocock joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2021 and writes breaking news and features, with a focus on environment, local government and post-cyclone issues in the region. He has a keen interest in finding the bigger picture in research and making it more accessible to audiences. He lives in Napier. james.pocock@nzme.co.nz.
