Three-year high for dog attack complaints in Invercargill

Dog attack complaints have reached a three-year high in Invercargill amid concern that poor owner behaviour could also be on the rise.

Details were captured in an annual dog control report presented at Invercargill City Council on Tuesday which included numbers from the last three financial years.

It showed several categories had hit their worst level this year, including impounds, infringements, attack complaints, barking complaints, and wandering complaints.

"I have a sense that over the recent years, with the rise of dog ownership there has also been a rise in poor dog owner behaviour," council group manager Jonathan Shaw told councillors during discussion.

"That's not to say that that is a large number. The majority of dog owners are responsible and complaint, and we greatly appreciate that.

"We just seem to have a small number who, whilst they may defend their right to own a dog, sometimes there's a reluctance to understand that with rights come responsibilities."

Shaw's report showed there had been 95 attacks over the past year, up from 67 last year and 86 the year before.

An increase in dog attacks and rushing or intimidation incidents seemed to reflect a broader trend across parts of New Zealand, the report said.

It noted increased media coverage could have played a role in that, encouraging incidents to be reported which had previously not been.

There was some good news, as Shaw pointed out lost and found dogs had begun trending in the right direction, and neglect complaints had also dropped.

The council was also experiencing some success with an "exceptionally effective" resource for chasing people up for registration, Shaw said.

"We have unfortunately had to issue a number of infringements for people not registering their dogs. But the good news is the number of known unregistered dogs has reduced to 120," he said.

"Unfortunately we don't know the number of 'unknown' unknown dogs. We suspect there are a large number of dogs out there that are as of yet not registered."

As at 30 June, the number of registered dogs in Invercargill was 8,167 - the lowest it had been in the last three years.

A total of 18 dogs were euthanised at the pound in the past year, and five owners were listed as being disqualified by the council.

The Government is reviewing dog control laws in a bid to crack down on roaming and uncontrolled dogs following a number of horrific attacks.

In July, Local Government Minister Simon Watts announced dog control guidelines had been updated.

More than 14,000 claims were lodged at ACC last year for dog bites and attacks, he said.