Rotorua dog attacks: Call for tougher penalties after attacks top 1100 in five years, but only 14 prosecutions
The Rotorua Lakes Council received more than 1100 dog attack complaints in the past five years. Photo / 123rf
Rotorua Lakes Council has recorded more than 1100 dog attacks in five years – but only 14 resulted in a prosecution, prompting a local victim whose sheep have been attacked to call for tougher enforcement.
Data obtained by the Rotorua Daily Post show 1175 dog attack complaints were made to the council from 2021 to 2025 – with 800 involving attacks on animals and another 347 involving attacks on people.
Another 28 complaints involved attacks on an animal and a person.
The 1175 complaints resulted in 14 prosecutions, prompting calls for tougher enforcement and stronger deterrents from a Rotorua victim whose flock of sheep has been attacked three times.
According to the council data, most of those prosecutions resulted in guilty verdicts and some form of financial penalty, including reparation or a fine, and, in some cases, destruction of the dog and bans on future ownership.
In 2023, there were two successful prosecutions. One resulted in three dogs being euthanised; their owner was disqualified from owning dogs and ordered to pay reparation to the victim.
In the second prosecution, the dogs were destroyed and their owner had to pay reparation.
In 2024, 10 prosecutions resulted in six guilty verdicts. Outcomes ranged from fines and reparations to community service, with several dogs destroyed or surrendered.
However, not all cases progressed to court action. One was dropped due to insufficient evidence, another was dropped at the victim’s request and a third owner was discharged without conviction.
A fourth case was settled outside of court, with the owner voluntarily surrendering two dogs to be euthanised.
In 2025, one owner was discharged without conviction but disqualified from owning dogs, with their animals euthanised and reparation ordered. Another prosecution was still before the court.
Rotorua Lakes Council spent $1.46 million on dog control enforcement in the financial year to June 30, 2025, up from $1.35m the previous financial year.
Mamaku resident Fiona Montgomerie, whose flock of heritage sheep has suffered from multiple dog attacks, said she was shocked by the low number of prosecutions.
She is calling for mandatory prosecution for all dog attacks that result in serious injury and/or death.
“People need to know that if they don’t keep their dogs under control, there are serious consequences.”
Montgomerie lost 23 Arapawa sheep – a rare heritage breed – in two attacks in 2024 and 2025, which she described as “absolutely terrifying” for her beloved “special pets”.
Earlier this year, she said different dogs attacked six of her remaining eight sheep, none of which died.
A “heartbroken” Montgomerie said the suffering her sheep went through continued to “haunt” her.
She believed the first two attacks were linked to the same dog. That dog was later voluntarily surrendered to the council and euthanised.
“I’m still paying off the $800 vet bill.”
She also suggested dog registration fees could be used to fund more prosecutions and desexing of dogs.
Stephanie Kelly, the council’s acting group manager for destination development, said the council could only prosecute where there was “sufficient and reliable evidence” to establish a reasonable prospect of conviction and where prosecution was in the public interest.
Kelly said there were no confirmed sightings of a dog attacking Montgomerie’s sheep in the 2024 and 2025 incidents and no viable DNA linking a suspected dog to either attack.
This dog had been classified as menacing in February 2019.
Animal control staff spoke with the dog’s owners, who voluntarily surrendered it and the dog was euthanised. The owner was separately issued infringement notices for failing to register and control it.
Kelly said there were no confirmed sightings or viable DNA in the most recent attack involving Montgomerie’s sheep and the investigation was closed.
The council said decisions on whether to prosecute were guided by the Dog Control Act, the Solicitor-General’s prosecution guidelines, bylaws and standard operating procedures.
“The council also receives advice from its external prosecuting agency, Gordon and Pilditch Solicitors.
“Alternative enforcement actions may include education, warnings, infringement notices, classification of a dog as menacing or dangerous, or seizure or destruction of a dog.”
Rotorua Lakes Council offered an $11.03 annual rebate on registration fees to incentivise owners to desex their dogs.
Sandra Conchie is a senior journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post who has been a journalist for 25 years. She mainly covers police, court and other justice stories, as well as general news. She has been a Canon Media Awards regional/community reporter of the year.