Editorial: Safety down to owners

Owners need to take responsibility for their dogs. Photo/Thinkstock

My family has always owned dogs, some have been nicer than others but I've never worried about them attacking me or anyone else.

My current dog is a jack russell that gets scared when the wind blows the door shut. She barks when people arrive at the house but would never get close enough to to bite anyone.

However, there are dogs I choose to avoid. They are the dogs that are menacing. They are often on chains, if restrained at all, and bark in a threatening manner. I have taken my dog for walks only to be confronted by roaming dogs. Luckily, the umbrella I carry fends them off.

Working in a newsroom, you often hear about dog attacks and a story in yesterday's Bay of Plenty Times highlighted the dangers some dogs present.

Tauranga meter reader Clive Claridge was working when a staffordshire bull terrier charged out of a garage, launched itself at him and latched on to his right forearm. Mr Claridge was heading to the power meter on an unfenced Gate Pa property.

It was the third time he had been attacked in the five years he had been doing this job.

He was in hospital for six nights and doctors took skin from his thigh to graft on to the wound. The dog was not registered and was put down after the owners surrendered it to the council.

Tauranga City Council environmental compliance manager John Payne said councils only dealt with about 10 per cent of the bites recorded by ACC because most of the victims were bitten by their own dogs.

Mr Payne has analysed more than 1800 incidents of dog attacks in New Zealand and found bull dog breeds to be the worst offenders.

I am all for trying to find a solution to this problem but I doubt banning certain dog breeds would help. It isn't always the fault of the dog, and owners need to be held accountable. Maybe it should be compulsory to sit a test before you can own a dog.

I know I would feel safer if everyone who owned a dog took more responsibility for its behaviour.