7-year-old Sakurako Uehara was mauled by four Staffordshire bull terrier-cross dogs at a family friend's home in Murupara.
7-year-old Sakurako Uehara was mauled by four Staffordshire bull terrier-cross dogs at a family friend's home in Murupara.
Govt rejects calls from experts for control laws to be reformed.
Two dogs have been put down after they attacked and seriously injured a man just days after a six-year-old Bay of Plenty boy was critically injured in a dog attack.
Despite rising attack numbers - that see two people hospitalised per day on average - calls from experts for dog control law reform and compulsory education are being rejected by the Government.
On Tuesday, a 68-year-old Palmerston man suffered "severe lacerations" to his leg after being set upon by a pitbull and a Staffordshire-cross.
Both the animals were classified as "menacing" under current laws - one for its breed and the other for a previous incident - and were not abiding by rules that should have seen them muzzled and on leashes.
The concerning attack came after a six-year-old Paengaroa boy received life-threatening facial injuries when he was attacked by a family member's unregistered "border collie-type" breed on Sunday.
The youngster was airlifted to Starship in a critical condition and then transferred to Middlemore's plastics unit, where he remains in a serious but stable condition after extensive surgeries.
The attacks have prompted medical experts, victim advocates and politicians to call for change - but the Government says current legislation is enough.
There were 99,000 dog bites in the decade to 2014 - with more than 5800 requiring hospitalisation and incident rates rising from 10.5 attacks per 100,000 people to 14.3 over that period.
Waitaki District Council regulatory services manager Lichelle Guyan said Tuesday's attack happened when the 68-year-old was walking near his property.
One dog started attacking him and the second dog joined in.
Both dogs were handed to Animal Control and immediately put down.
The dog involved in Sunday's attack on Conway Rd has also been destroyed.
The boy's family and local community were deeply shocked about what happened. His family were too upset to speak with the Herald.
Sakurako Uehara was mauled by four dogs at a family friend's home in Murupara.
New Zealand Association of Plastic Surgeons president Dr Sally Langley said the medical and psycho-social impact on victims was "life-changing" and tougher dog-control laws were needed.
She said options included banning certain breeds and reassessing whether local governments were able to deal with issues sufficiently.
Stories of New Zealanders - many of them children, as those under 9 are most at risk - receiving appalling injuries are nothing new. Last year, 7-year-old Sakurako Uehara was mauled by four Staffordshire bull terrier-cross dogs at a family friend's home in Murupara.
The attack prompted Carolina Anderson, now 19, to speak out about her own attack as a 7-year-old in 2003.
Carolina Anderson, now 19, was attacked as a 7-year-old.
"I'm really upset that it's happened again 11 years later. It should have been dealt with a lot earlier. These attacks have happened, even after me, and nothing has really been done," she said.
National's Associate Local Government Minister, Louise Upston, said an assessment of the country's dog-control laws by the Department of Internal Affairs last year found no need for change.
However, Labour's local government spokesman, Su'a William Sio, said current laws were failing to protect New Zealanders.
Founding director of charity Bark, Heather Laanbroek, said compulsory education in every school was needed to address the problem.
A Ministry of Education spokesman said there were resources available if teachers wanted them.
