New Zealanders have been left reeling after a woman was mauled and killed by a pack of dogs in Northland, a father and son were brutally attacked in a private home and a person’s hand was mangled in a Timaru dog attack – all three in a fortnight. Four people have been killed by dogs in the past four years and reported attacks have almost doubled. What are our options – and who will take charge? Hannah Jones reports.
A relative of a woman mauled by a pack of unregistered pig dogs in Tairua while walking her own dogs, and who was left fighting for her life in hospital two years ago, says the council in her case was impotent.
“The councils don’t have the power to enforce anything. They have to chip the dogs and put them in the pound for six months, waiting for owners to come forward,” Maria’s* relative told the Herald this week.
Two of the dogs were returned to their owner on the day of the attack that saw the retiree airlifted to hospital by rescue helicopter, and two others were contained at the pound pending further investigation.
Councils, animal shelters and victims have been warning the Government for years that, without updated powers for local authorities, there will be more dog-attack fatalities – and there have been.
Most recently, Mihiata Te Rore, 62, died after she was attacked by three dogs while visiting someone she knew at a property in her home town of Kaihu this month, shattering the Kaipara community.
Almost everyone agrees the 30-year-old Dog Control Act is proving inadequate. Some aggressive dogs stay impounded for years while long and costly cases wind their way through the courts.
Local authorities can’t desex stray dogs as a matter of course, and the problem multiplies.
As a result, council staff euthanised 6000 dogs in the past year in Auckland alone.
The blame game
Political leaders were quick to point to councils in the aftermath of the latest fatal attack.
Under the Dog Control Act, the government is responsible for national oversight of dog control and regulation setting.
But on Monday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said when it comes to dogs, the buck stops with local government.
“I expect councils to … execute and do what they’re supposed to be doing on dog control” he said, also emphasising the personal responsibility of dog owners.
His local government minister, Simon Watts, said he has sought advice but will not be seeking legislative change in this parliamentary term.
Auckland Animal Management staff recently wrote to the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) pleading for change.
They asked for powers to make bylaws on desexing, to be able to seize dogs when bylaws are breached, and to require fencing for dogs that have attacked or repeatedly roam.
Just hours before the Northland death, they received a response. “Unfortunately, there is no capacity in the current Parliamentary term for legislative change.”
Last week, coalition partner Winston Peters pointed the finger at owners, saying people with dogs who commit fatal attacks are “facilitating murder” and should be charged with manslaughter.
This has already happened in a precedent-setting case, when a Far North man was found guilty of manslaughter in August last year after his hungry pack of 23 dogs mauled his landlord to death.
More commonly, dog attacks have been dealt with under the Dog Control Act: Owning a dog that causes serious injury or death can result in three years’ imprisonment or a fine up to $20,000.
‘We can’t be everywhere at once’
Councils are responsible for the operational aspects of dog control under the Dog Control Act, including registration, enforcement, impounding and bylaws – but councils and the SPCA agree its powers are no longer strong enough.
The Covid-19 years saw a surge in dog-ownership combined with dogs unable to be de-sexed or socialised during lockdowns.
Auckland Council dealt with 10,000 lost, dangerous and stray dogs last year alone. They reported a record 1341 dog attacks on people in 2024/2025, and a 78% increase in the number of roaming dogs since 2021.
Robert Irvine, general manager of licencing and compliance, told the Herald the Dog Control Act doesn’t give councils “enough tools to get on top of the problem”.
Auckland Council normally spends $15 million on animal management each year, but has been swamped and this year poured an extra $10m into education, more animal management officers and a free de-sexing clinic for high-risk dogs.
“We can keep funding animal management year on year, but it’s not going to stop the problem,” Irvine said.
He wants the Government to pass laws that allow:
- Councils to desex impounded dogs.
- Mandatory reporting of dog attacks.
- Faster prosecution processes to free up space in animal shelters.
- Greater powers of seizure for aggressive dogs.
SPCA wants preventative action
The SPCA has been campaigning for new laws for more than 10 years.
Senior scientific officer Alison Vaughan wants a comprehensive review of the Dog Control Act.
She points to Calgary in Canada and New South Wales in Australia as examples where evidence-based, holistic approaches have led to reductions in high-severity bites. Calgary uses a bite scale to record and grade attacks, and NSW has a focus on responsible breeding.
Like Irvine, Vaughan says de-sexing is essential.
In 2016, the Government provided $850,000 in council grants to subsidise desexing – but only for a year. “This should have been more sustained,” Vaughan told the Herald. “ACC claims in relation to dog bites dwarf this number.”
ACC reported 29,220 dog-related injuries in 2024/2025, costing taxpayers approximately $18m. Nearly half of these were dog bites.
‘It’s about bad owners’
Professional dog walker and trainer Misha Gildenberger, who co-founded the Social Dog app, believes there should be mandatory education for all dog owners – including modules on dog body language, stress signals and risk management.
Parts of Switzerland and Germany have adopted this approach, requiring first-time dog owners to pass a theoretical exam and a practical test before receiving their “Dog Ownership Licence”.
Poison powers?
DoC operations manager Meirene Hardy-Birch told the Herald last year she hoped to see poison made legally available to deal with the increasingly dangerous feral dog problem in New Zealand. “Our systems and tools are really limited,” she said.
There were safety concerns at the time for trampers on the Te Araroa Trail, and its trust had advised people to carry sticks, and avoid walking alone. Wild dogs also kill wildlife – including kiwi – and have killed many farm animals in the North.
A Northland farmer who had shot more than 90 feral dogs since 2021 to protect his animals, told the Herald last year he believed dog owners should be licenced like firearms owners.
“To me, a dog is more dangerous than a firearm. A firearm isn’t going to go out by itself and maul a child,” he said.
‘How many lives have to be lost?’
The recent attacks have brought on fresh memories of the ordeal for Tairua victim Maria. Her relative recalled: “I know how close she got, it was bloody frightening.” Maria is still waiting for reform.
“These dogs that are running wild and attacking innocent people have got to be put down … and if the owners are found, they should also be held accountable,” they said.
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