Attack throws spotlight on dog safety

Between 2011 and 2013, dog-related injury claims increased from 156 to 175, but claim costs dropped from $22,876 to $13,810.

Dog-related injuries in Wairarapa are on the rise, new ACC figures show, amid renewed calls for dangerous breeds to be banned.

Between 2011 and 2013, dog-related injury claims increased from 156 to 175, but claim costs dropped from $22,876 to $13,810.

Claims were also up nationwide to 12,750, although national claim costs fell slightly to $2.9 million.

Most claims were minor, requiring a visit to a GP, and included bite incidents, accidents such as tripping over a dog or infected flea bites.

The three most common injuries were laceration, soft-tissue injury, and dental injury.

A four-dog attack on 7-year-old Japanese girl Sakurako Uehara in Murupara on March 3 has drawn calls for dangerous breeds to be banned. Sakurako was bitten more than 100 times and faces years of surgery.

National Dog database figures for 2012 showed Wairarapa had 10,914 registered dogs. Of those, 135 were classified as menacing and 11 as dangerous.

Popular breeds included huntaways, labradors and fox terriers.

Carterton District Council animal and dog control officer Karen Schischka said dog owners needed to be aware that their dogs could act differently around visitors' children than their own.

She said more education was also needed to teach children how to act around dogs. "Any breed will bite... in a situation where they've got to fight to get out. It's either fight or flight."

In the wake of the Murupara attack Local Government Minister Paula Bennett said she was considering whether dog control regulations needed to improve.

However, New Zealand Institute of Animal Control Officers president Les Dalton said new laws banning specific breeds would not be effective, as many dangerous breeds had been widely cross-bred, such as "jowly" bull terrier crosses. "There's a lot of undesirable dogs that aren't the best with humans and haven't been socialised with dogs and certainly not children."

Many of the "macho" breeds were typically found in lower socio-economic North Island areas, and owned by groups of young men who had not cared for the animals.

He wanted better dog safety education for children.

The 1996 Dog Control Act was tightened in 2003 after 7-year-old Carolina Anderson suffered a horrific attack in an Auckland park, needing years of reconstructive surgery.

Dog owners must now register, microchip and fence their animals. They must also muzzle dogs in public if they've been classified as menacing or dangerous. It is illegal to import American pitbull terrier, dogo argentino, Brazilian fila, and Japanese tosa breeds.

Dog owners can be jailed for three years or fined up to $20,000 if their dog is involved in an attack causing serious injury. The penalty for not registering or microchipping a dog is $300.