Rotorua's menacing dogs

The american pitbull terrier and pitbull cross-breeds are Rotorua's most menacing dogs and cause a high proportion of reported problems for dog control officers.
In a report presented to the Rotorua District Council's planning and bylaws committee the council's regulatory services manager, Jim Nicklin, said pitbulls featured more in attacks than any other type of dog in the district.
Accounting for just 1.4 per cent of the district's total dog population, pitbulls and pitbull crosses are responsible for 18.5 per cent of all reported attacks on people in the Bay of Plenty and Waikato.
Habitat for Humanity manager David Charlton said he saw more than enough stray dogs at his place of work, on the corner of Edmund Rd and Homedale St.
"I haven't seen any attacks but every single week for at least the last 12 months there are two or three dogs that wander around the carpark.
"They are not small dogs either. One is pretty friendly, but it does look very menacing."
Mr Charlton said he won't walk his own dog, an elderly dachshund, in the area for fear it might be attacked by a stray dog.
"I think their owners just don't care. They get a dog and leave it alone for most of the day. They end up wandering the streets getting into rubbish bags."
Mr Charlton said he had called council's animal control department about six times already this year.
Mr Nicklin's recent report was produced for the Department of Internal Affairs which requests an annual report from all councils in New Zealand on dog control.
By law only three breeds and one type of dog are required to be classed as "menacing" - the brazilian fila, dogo argentino, japanese tosa and the american pitbull terrier. This is different from the classification of "dangerous", which a dog is deemed to be only if it displays aggressive behaviour.
In the year ended June 30 Rotorua had a total of 245 "menacing" dogs and 16 "dangerous" dogs reported.
Mr Nicklin said two dog owners were banned from owning dogs in the Rotorua district but, to his knowledge, there were no brazilian fila, dogo argentino or japanese tosas in the district.
The city's six full-time dog control officers attended 3444 callouts for barking, roaming and dog attacks in the year ended June 30.
"Council provides a seven-days-a-week service. Staff are proactive in patrolling throughout the district to apprehend straying dogs and to deal with complaints about inadequate control of dogs. The majority of complaints received relate to roaming and barking dogs," Mr Nicklin said.
He said the council provided, free of charge, cage traps to people having problems with dogs wandering onto private property.
"Council's policy and bylaw require that dogs in public places must be on a lead at all times. Dogs are allowed to be off leads in dog exercise areas provided they are at all times under full control of of the person in charge of the dog," he said.
 
A DOG'S LIFE
- Rotorua has 10,206 registered dogs belonging to about 8000 owners.
- 1830 dogs were impounded in the year ended June 30.
- 777 were claimed by their owners in the year ended June 30.
- 111 were re-homed in the year ended June 30.
- 848 dogs were put down in the year ended June 30.
* Statistics provided by the Rotorua District Council.
DOG ATTACKS
- Pit bull: 101 attacks; 18.5 per cent of total reported; 1.4 per cent of total dog population.
- Labrador: 59 attacks; 11 per cent of total reported; 15 per cent of total dog population.
- Bull terrier: 44 attacks; 8 per cent of total reported; 7.3 per cent of total dog population.
- German shepherd: 38 attacks; 7 per cent of total reported; 3.7 per cent of total dog population.
- Border collie: 26 attacks; 5 per cent of total reported; 7.3 per cent of total dog population.
- Australian cattle dog: 21 attacks; 4 per cent of total reported; 1.8 per cent of total dog population.
* Statistics for the year ended June 30 of dog attacks in the Bay of Plenty and Waikato provided by the NZ Institute of Animal Control Officers - Midlands Branch.
PROBLEM STREETS
- Meadowbank Cres - 40.
- Gordon Rd - 39.
- Old Quarry Rd, Roger St - 37.
- Lisa Cres - 34.
- Homedale St - 32.
- Wrigley Rd, Bell Rd - 26.
* Number of dog control callouts in the year ended June 30.