Tauranga City Council's animal services team leader Brent Lincoln urges owners to supervise their dogs 24-7. Photo / File
Tauranga City Council's animal services team leader Brent Lincoln urges owners to supervise their dogs 24-7. Photo / File
More than 60 dog attacks on people have been reported to Tauranga City Council since July last year, including a dog which savaged a woman delivering pamphlets in Pāpāmoa.
The April 2 attack is one of the 63 attacks on people reported to the council between July 1, 2018, and June 30 this year resulting in four prosecutions.
In this time, another 16 people were disqualified from owning a dog for various offences.
This compared to 84 reported attacks on people in the previous 12 months, with five owners prosecuted and another 17 people disqualified from owning a dog.
Council's animal services team leader Brent Lincoln said the victim of the April 2 attack was delivering pamphlets in Jade Way, Pāpāmoa, when she was bitten on both legs by a bull terrier-cross and needed skin grafts.
Lincoln said the dog's owner would be sentenced in Tauranga District Court next month after they pleaded guilty to a charge of being the owner of a dog which caused serious injury to a person.
This was a "strict liability" offence and the council would be seeking a destruction order for the dog, he said.
Lincoln said this meant if the owner wanted to fight the prosecution they must prove they had taken all reasonable steps to prevent the attack from happening.
"Every dog owner needs to understand they are responsible for their dog's actions at all times, and they must ensure never left unsupervised and is well-controlled," he said.
The April 2 attack dog is one of the 11 dogs held at the Tauranga pound.
Lincoln said of the 674 dogs impounded for the 2018/2019 financial year, 62 were seized for various offences, and 612 were either found roaming by council staff or the public.
"Over the past three financial years we have seen a decrease in the number of dogs impounded, and numbers dropped from 989 in 2016/2017 to 674 in 2018/2019."
Lincoln said the majority of impounded dogs were collected by their owners within 2 days, and the average stay for the rest was five days.
Owners were charged $9 a day to cover the cost of looking after an impounded dog.
Lincoln said the annual cost to run the pound was about $44,000 and food costs were included in the general operating expenses.
"It's been amazing. We have had more than 14 people turn up with blankets and one lady even bought in six new blankets she had bought from a shop, and we also had someone else turn up with six plastic dog beds.
"These beds are great for smaller dogs which we always need," he said.
Lincoln said there had also been donations of toys and other items including towels.
"We are so grateful for the awesome response," he said.
Lincoln said he hoped for a similar response in rehoming one of the impounded dogs after its owner had failed to come and collect it.
"Sid is an affectionate male Labrador Bull Terrier aged between 12 months to 18-months. Sid has a great temperament but he would suit a quieter environment,' he said.
