Source: Radio New Zealand
Auckland animal control officers say they need laws with more teeth, with the current dangerous dogs’ legislation resulting in dogs being locked up for years.
Last year, the council received almost 17,000 reports of roaming dogs and more than 1300 reports of dog attacks on people.
Currently, 60 owners are facing prosecution for dog attacks.
It’s prompted calls for a revamp of the three-decade-old Dog Control Act and more power for animal control officers.
Last year, the council received almost 17,000 reports of roaming dogs. Nick Monro
Checkpoint followed animal control officers Shay Smith and Lisha Byrne around for a day as they kept an eye on the streets of south Auckland.
Their shift started at 7:30am, with their first drive-by near a local primary school in Ōtara.
More often than not, they see dogs they’ve had to impound before, out roaming the streets again.
But first, they spotted a dog at a property that isn’t supposed to have dogs.
The owner was disqualified because their dogs, which hadn’t been de-sexed, were found roaming the streets.
This time, the team found and seized two adult dogs and seven puppies.
Another day keeping an eye on the streets of south Auckland for animal control officers Shay Smith and Lisha Byrne. Nick Monro
Animal Control officer Shay Smith spoke to the property owner as the dogs were left in her care.
“I will leave paperwork with your daughter, she does have seven days to make contact with the shelter, but unfortunately, just because of the situation, we do have to take them.”
The dogs also hadn’t been de-sexed and were freely wandering around the property, which did not have a fence.
As Checkpoint stood outside the house, children walked past on their way to school.
Although the dogs didn’t seem aggressive, Smith said they couldn’t take any risks as other dogs in the area had attacked people.
“A good reason why we patrol the area so frequently is because a lot of these dogs will follow kids around the schools and some of them act aggressively,” Smith said.
“[They’ll] bark at the kids as well, so it is quite important.”
Roaming dogs have been an ongoing issue in Auckland. Nick Monro
The council’s dog shelters in Manukau, Silverdale and Henderson are currently near capacity, so finding a spot took time.
But the officers eventually found spots for the nine dogs at the Manukau shelter.
“Once we’ve impounded them, the shelter then takes over, so the dog owner can reach out within seven days.”
“If they’re unknown dogs, they’ll get posted on the shelter impounds Facebook page.”
If no owner comes forward to claim the dogs, they have to pass a temperament test, to see if the dogs can be rehomed safely.
“If they’re not able to be rehomed safely, then unfortunately they do get humanely euthanised, because we can’t be rehoming aggressive dogs.”
There are currently 250 dogs being held across three Auckland shelters. Nick Monro
Auckland Council regional shelter manager Nikki Cripps said there are currently 250 dogs being held across their three shelters.
Some have attacked a person or another animal.
Across the three shelters, 60 dogs are being held while their owners face prosecution.
“Some dogs are in here because they’ve attacked another dog or another animal, whether that is stock or a cat.”
“Other dogs are in here because they’ve attacked a person. With a person, that can range from a child up to an elderly adult.
“We also have dogs in here that have attacked police officers, who were trying to perform their duties.”
After an attack, the council can decide whether a dog can return to its home.
If it’s deemed a safety risk, the dog is kept behind bars while evidence is reviewed to determine whether a prosecution is justified.
“All of this can take anywhere from days, up to years, with our longest-term dog being in here for four years.”
Auckland Council regional shelter manager Nikki Cripps. Nick Monro
This is because owners can lodge potentially lengthy appeals, even after a court has decided a dog must be put down.
One dog currently at the Silverdale shelter has been held for two-and-a-half years for this reason.
Cripps said the shelters aren’t a healthy environment for dogs.
“For these dogs, we are very limited in terms of what we can do for our health and safety reasons.
“So, they’re not socialised with other dogs, they’re unable to have visits from their owner for health and safety reasons.
“They can deteriorate; they are in an institutionalised environment.”
Cripps wants the council to have more power to enforce dog control laws.
“We need stronger laws in place to help us mitigate these issues before it gets to this point. At the moment, we can’t enforce de-sexing, we can’t enforce fencing.”
“There’s lots of factors we could potentially put in place to prevent it from getting to a point where a dog is in here for an attack.”
Some dogs are locked up for years. Nick Monro
‘What we need is more proactive tools’
Auckland Council’s general manager for licensing and compliance Robert Irvine told Checkpoint because the Dog Control Act is over 30 years old, it is outdated.
“What we need is more proactive tools. The problems out there are significant, and we need those tools under the legislation to really help us get on top of this quite severe problem.”
He said the council can only euthanise a dog if it isn’t collected during the seven-day hold period.
But for a dog that is aggressive and has bitten someone, the council can’t make the decision to put it down, they must wait for a court order.
“Where there’s an attack on a person or it’s even killed a family pet, we have no powers to destroy that dog.
“Our power, it’s either a $200 fine, or we have to take the person through a quite a lengthy and costly prosecution process through the district court.”
Auckland Council want to be able to issue stronger penalties against owners, he said.
“What a lot of victims look for is effectively the reparation around ensuring that the dog is either euthanized or there’s adequate compensation.”
“I do definitely think the whole process needs to be improved. The fact that it takes almost a year, or in some cases even four years, at the end of the period, something needs to change.”
During 2025, there was close to 3000 dog attacks on people and animals, but only 141 prosecutions or appeals.
Irvine said the council wants to speed up the time the court process takes and to be able to issue stronger fines.
“Our fine that we can issue someone for when there’s an attack is $200. I think prosecution should always be held for the highest, but it definitely needs to be more than 200, something in the vicinity of $1000 or $2000.”
To keep a dog in the pound, Irvine said it costs the owners $35 a day and $13,000 a year.
“We definitely bill the owners. The challenge is a lot of the cases, particularly when finally, the courts order a destruction, they may not pay. So, for us, we straight away refer that to the Ministry of Justice and Baycorp.”
To disqualify a person for owning dogs, the person must have committed three offences within 24 months, and the offences cannot all be connected to the same incident.
Irvine said the council wants to see tougher rules.
“We disqualified just under 60 dog owners over the last year and, really based off the severe problems we’re facing, it should be a lot more.”
Last month, Minister Simon Watts told Checkpoint the Department of Internal Affairs is working with the local government sector to improve dog control enforcement guidelines.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand