KEY POINTS:
The Government's announcement of tighter dog control laws today is only a beginning, says the New Zealand Kennel Club.
Associate Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced the changes today after a review of dog control laws following a series of dog attacks.
Ms Mahuta said it will be compulsory for menacing dogs, identified by breed, to be neutered.
She said many councils already required the neutering of menacing breeds or types of dog but the legislation would make this consistent nationwide.
Ms Mahuta also announced that the process of banning breeds from importation would be simplified.
The Presa Canario breed, not yet in New Zealand, would be banned here.
Kennel Club chief executive Brian Priest said the best part of the announcement was the indication that responsible dog ownership was getting the ongoing attention of government.
"Today's news was never going to be an instant fix for dog control problems, but it is a beginning.
"Previous ministers over many years have approached dog issues thinking that they only needed to `do something' and they could then forget about dogs for a couple of years - that was the wrong course."
The Government was due to issue a discussion document for consultation before Christmas.
Ideas being considered included: the mandatory destruction of dogs classified as dangerous; compulsory round-ups and/or faster destruction of unregistered dogs; educating the public about dog behaviour; and the addition of breeds of dog to dog control legislation.
Mr Priest said adding more breeds to the `banned list' would not be a solution.
It would only lead to dogs being registered under other labels and would worry owners of quality purebred dogs, he said.
United Future leader Peter Dunne warned although the changes were a move in the right direction, there was still nobody monitoring whether they would reduce the incidence of dog attacks.
"The whole point of these changes is to reduce the number of people, and young children especially, who are the victims of dog attacks.
"But no-one is accurately monitoring which dog breeds are attacking our children, or how many attacks are happening and how severe they are," he said.
"Without that information, today's proposals will only have limited impact."
- NZPA
