Editorial: Be in charge of your canine

People need to take responsibility for their dogs, says Amy Wiggins.

Dog attacks are always a tragedy. More often than not children or other animals are the victims and often the result is severe.

That said, it is usually a sad situation for the owners as their pets are often seized and can be put down. There is also the guilt of knowing your pet badly injured someone.

Attacks always spark debate about who is at fault. I don't think there is a straightforward answer. Every attack is different.

Sometimes the dog has been provoked, sometimes it has not been trained or raised well and sometimes it seems that something just snaps and a usually friendly dog becomes aggressive. That said, I believe it is the responsibility of the dog owner to keep their pet securely fenced in and under control. If walking it off a lead in a public place, extreme care needs to be taken.

In Saturday's Bay of Plenty Times Weekend we reported there had been 40 charges laid in Tauranga under the Dog Control Act in the last five years. I'm glad we have a system where every attack reported is investigated to determine who is at fault. It encourages dog owners to be responsible because they know there is a penalty if they are not. What is a concern is that there were more dog bite claims made to ACC by Bay residents than were reported to the council.

Tauranga City Council animals and enforcement team leader Brent Lincoln said: "Basically what happens is a lot of attacks that get reported to ACC are people's own dogs attacking family members so they don't report it."

That to me is a worry.

To have been reported to ACC suggests the injury was enough to seek medical attention. That means it was not just a nip or a scratch - that's a serious bite.

I understand people don't want to lose their dogs or face the consequences in court but it means there may be many dangerous dogs out there who could attack again.

Dog owners need to be responsible and do the right thing if their dog seriously attacks or bites someone.

They need to report it and let a proper investigation be carried out or make the tough call to have their dog put down.