Severe jail terms needed for owners of ‘homicidal dogs’, Shane Jones says after Northland woman mauled to death

A dog runs free in Kaihu, Northland. Photo / RNZ

By RNZ

Hefty jail terms should be considered for owners of dangerous, roaming dogs, Northland local and Cabinet Minister Shane Jones says.

His comments come after a woman was mauled to death in Kaihu this week.

Her death is the third in Northland in the past four years.

Emergency crews were called to a Kaihu home just before midday on Tuesday but the woman was dead by the time they arrived.

Jones said the current law was “not fit for purpose”, “homicidal dogs” were scattered around Northland, and the problem was getting worse.

Very few owners of such dogs were held accountable, meaning there was no deterrent in place, he said. A “severe level of punishment” was needed – including hefty jail terms.

Jones said the problem had been going on for “years”. Roaming dogs weren’t as much of an issue when he was growing up in Awanui, saying his father’s generation would shoot any wild and dangerous dogs.

Jones said he felt the issue had moved past a soft approach and would support any options Local Government Minister Simon Watts brought forward.

On Tuesday, Watts said he was asking officials for urgent advice after the death.

He said the Department of Internal Affairs is working on the issue with local councils to improve dog control.

Watts expected new guidelines in the second half of this year.

Kaipara District Mayor Jonathan Larsen called the death tragic and a sad situation for the families.

The Kaipara District Council would not say if the dogs that attacked and killed the woman were known to animal control.