Tracy Clarke is too scared to walk around her Whangārei neighbourhood because of roaming, aggressive dogs. Photo / Jenny Ling
A Northland woman who has been repeatedly rushed at by aggressive roaming dogs has started a petition calling on the Government to remedy the region’s “roaming dog crisis”.
Tracy Clarke stopped walking around her Whangārei neighbourhood several years ago because she was rushed at by wandering dogs at least a dozen times.
That included the time she was walking to school to pick up her grandson, when a pitbull launched an attack.
“If it wasn’t for a courier driver that screamed at me to jump in her van, I would have been ripped to shreds.
“I’m too scared to walk outside my own property.
“I walk to the letterbox, scan the street before I mow the berm, then race back in.
“It’s not just about me; there’s a crisis happening now across our nation, in particular in Northland.
“It’s horrendous out there.”
The problem got so bad that Clarke stopped walking her grandson to and from primary school for two years, instead forking out $24 a day for return taxi trips.
Clarke is calling for changes to New Zealand’s “extremely outdated” dog laws to tackle the growing problem in Northland and other parts of the country.
She has started a petition urging the Government and local governments to change relevant policies, rules, and bylaws “to make our communities safe again”.
Clarke’s ideas include introducing mandatory desexing and minimum height requirements on fences, along with “a strike system, so if your dog is caught roaming two or three times, it’s gone”.
“Not a day goes by that someone posts [on social media] about a roaming dog.
“When people don’t feel safe enough to walk around their own community ... there’s something very wrong.
“It needs to be addressed.”
Clarke’s comments follow calls from Northland animal welfare advocate Donna Badorek, from Donna Doolittle’s Animal Rescue, who also wants mandatory dog desexing introduced.
The Auckland Council is also pushing for stronger powers under the Dog Control Act 1996 to address the growing number of roaming and uncontrolled dogs.
This includes allowing councils to desex an impounded dog before it is returned to its owner, which cannot be done under current legislation.
In Whangārei, complaints about roaming dogs increased from 1149 in 2023-24 to 1243 in 2024-25.
Complaints about dogs rushing at people decreased from 112 complaints to 97 over the same period.
Dog attacks also slightly dropped from 179 in 2023-24 to 170 in 2024-25.
Whangārei District Council health and bylaws manager Reiner Mussle said that under current bylaws, the council could “require the desexing of any dog found wandering twice or more”.
The bylaw also required menacing dogs and dogs classified as dangerous to be desexed, he said.
“We proactively monitor known hotspots to help alleviate the issue of roaming dogs in some areas of the district, and all dogs rehomed from our shelter are desexed before going to their new homes.
“Our bylaws enable us to require certain things, such as that dogs be contained on a property, where dogs are allowed and where they are banned.”
However, Mussle said that under the current Dog Control Act, “we are unable to require mandatory desexing of all dogs”.
In the Far North, two people have died from dog attacks.
Neville Thompson, 69, was mauled to death by a pack of dangerous dogs on his Panguru property in 2022, and in 2023, 79-year-old Elizabeth “Effie” Whittaker died when she tried to break up a dog fight on her Moerewa property.
In December, two roaming dogs attacked a Northland woman on Taipā Beach, and more recently, a Kaikohe woman was hospitalised after a dog attack on Hongi St on October 2.
Far North Mayor Moko Tepania has previously said he is in favour of mandatory desexing, provided it is supported by the community.
He said the Far North District Council would “explore options” when its dog control bylaw was up for renewal early next year, but the current Dog Control Act needed legislation to enable changes to council bylaws.
Local Government Minister Simon Watts said he shared the “serious concerns many communities have about the challenge of roaming dogs”.
Watts said he and the Associate Minister of Agriculture [Animal Welfare], Andrew Hoggard, asked the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) to explore “non-regulatory approaches” to support better dog control.
“This includes improving the quality and consistency of dog-related data,” Watts said.
“DIA has recently launched a project to refresh enforcement guidelines in partnership with the local government sector.
“This will support consistent dog control enforcement across New Zealand.”
So far, more than 240 people have signed Clarke’s petition, which is running on the NZ Parliament petitions website, and closes on November 1.
Jenny Ling is a senior journalist at the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering human interest stories, along with finance, roading, and social issues.