The Tauranga City Council and Western Bay of Plenty District Council received more than 1500 dog attack complaints in the past five years, but prosecuted only nine cases. Photo / 123rf
More than 800 dog attacks were reported to Tauranga City Council in the past five years – but fewer than 1% resulted in prosecutions.
Data obtained by the Bay of Plenty Times shows 881 dog attack complaints were made to the council in the past five years.
Of those complaints, 305 involved attacks on people and 576 were attacks on other animals.
Despite hundreds of complaints, the council prosecuted eight cases in the last five years.
The Bay of Plenty Times has published several articles this year about reported dog attacks and the complainants’ frustration at not knowing what action had been taken against the dogs or their owners.
One of those complainants, a Mount Maunganui woman mauled by a dog in Parkvale last year, said she was “absolutely disgusted” at how few prosecutions there had been.
“I’ve been fighting for five months to get answers from the council on why it didn’t prosecute the owner of the dog and decided the dog should live, as well as enforcement measures to prevent another attack.
“I’ve been told the Privacy Act means I have to be kept in the dark.”
The woman said she appealed the council’s decision and was waiting for the outcome of an independent review.
“I’m not after justice. I know the council is unlikely to reverse its decision not to prosecute, but as a victim, I deserve to have answers. I believe every dog attack victim should be entitled to that.”
She said the attack continued to “haunt” her, significantly affecting her sense of safety, her ability to work, her sleep and her daily life.
A council spokesperson said the council recognised the significant impact the attack had had on the complainant, and understood her frustration about how long it had taken to get answers.
“Our priority is always public safety, and we take all dog attacks seriously,” they said.
The council engaged law firm Meredith Connell to undertake an independent review of how it handled this incident, including its decisions about prosecution.
“We expect to be able to talk through the outcome of the review and any next steps with [the complainant] within the next two weeks,” the spokesperson said.
Council information requests team leader Kathryn Norris said six of the eight prosecutions in the past five years resulted in destruction orders for the dogs. Reparation was ordered in four of those cases.
One dog’s owner was also disqualified from dog ownership for an unspecified period, another was convicted only, and one case was still before the courts.
Norris said the council’s enforcement decisions were “guided by a risk assessment matrix tool” and made by the animal services team leader, internal legal counsel and the general manager.
When deciding what information could be released, the council must comply with the relevant principles in the Privacy Act and Dog Control Act. Each request was assessed on “its individual circumstances”.
Between 2021 and 2025, the Western Bay of Plenty District Council had 666 dog attack complaints: 169 involved attacks on people, and 497 attacks were on other animals, with one prosecution case in that period.
Alison Curtis, the district council’s regulatory services general manager, said the prosecution resulted in a conviction. The dog’s owner pleaded guilty, with reparation and destruction of the dog ordered.
She said $18,778 was spent on this prosecution.
The district council’s prosecution figures did not include the police investigation into the death of Timothy Tu’uaki Rolleston-Bryan, 4, who died on March 28 last year near Katikati.
Police have laid charges against two people, and the case is before the Tauranga District Court.
Why victims are not informed
The Bay of Plenty Times put the dog attack victim’s concerns to Privacy Act experts.
A spokesperson for the Office of the Privacy Commissioner said the Privacy Act applied to any information about a dog or its owner deemed personal.
However, a victim could request that information under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act.
That council must then “weigh up” whether releasing the information was in the public interest or if it should be withheld to protect the privacy of its owner or other persons. A victim could file a complaint with the Office of the Ombudsman.
Baywide Community Law Centre lawyer Russell Nye‑Wood said local authorities must protect the privacy of personal information obtained through investigations, including potential defendants.
In his opinion, local authorities’ approach to handling that personal information was cautious, but not overzealous.
He said victims were entitled to receive information about court proceedings under the Victims’ Rights Act. However, dog attack investigations handled by local authorities were governed by different legislation.
Nye-Wood said this seemed to mean victims of dog attacks investigated by local authorities were entitled to information about the progress of an attack investigation, and the reasons for not laying charges.
“Any extension of victims’ rights to local authority investigations would need to be led by Parliament.”
The Government has ordered acomprehensive review of the Dog Control Act following several fatal dog attacks nationwide.
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.