Source: Radio New Zealand
A dog runs freely on a roadside. RNZ
The patterns are clear for Dr Natasha Duncan-Sutherland to see.
Dog injury statistics are on the up, and the emergency specialist at Te Toka Tumai / Auckland City Hospital said that would not be fixed without urgent action.
“So if you see a certain number of dog-related injuries or dog bite injuries within a certain region, you can be pretty sure that without any further proper changes, that those are going to happen again the next year,” she said.
“And I think that’s really devastating.”
The next round of statistics would be in the middle of the year in June or July.
“And I am not looking forward to having to look at those next statistics,” Duncan-Sutherland said.
“I don’t look forward to having to look at those statistics again and seeing the same pattern happening all over again the following year with no changes being made.”
Duncan-Sutherland offered her “deepest sympathies” to the victims and families of recent dog attacks.
She had spent years researching the problem.
A decade’s worth of figures showed what had been done so far, including non-legislative strategies, was not working, she said.
“The Dog Control Act was introduced at one point, but things have continued to get worse and particularly over the last few years, we’ve been really trying to say this needs to happen and it hasn’t happened, and I think it’s devastating that has resulted in fatalities,” she said.
“And I think it’s devastating that the problem continues to happen and that those changes haven’t happened fast enough.”
Emergency services at the scene of a fatal dog attack in Northland last week. RNZ
Duncan-Sutherland said what there did need to be was an urgent review of the Dog Control Act with mandatory notification of all dog-related injuries.
She said there should also be mandatory de-sexing of all dogs by six months of age or within 28 days of an owner taking possession, unless owned by a registered breeder or when exempt on veterinary grounds.
Then, Duncan-Sutherland said there needed to be greater powers for local councils and animal control officers as well as minimum fencing standards.
She also called for infringement notices for roaming dogs or attacks on people, particularly children.
What had not lowered the figures, she said, were non-legislative strategies over several years that had included widespread education.
“Despite all of those non-legislative strategies that we’ve implemented over the last five to six years, ACC statistics show us that those changes have not been effective.”
Those figures, she said, showed the breadth and seriousness of the issue.
In 2024 to 2025, there were 29,220 dog-related injuries with nearly half of them dog bite injuries.
Adults were most often hurt on their limbs, but Duncan-Sutherland said children – because of their size – were most often hurt on their face, head or neck.
Rates of injury had been increasing steadily over time, she said.
“And so we really need to look at doing something differently.”
Local Government Minister Simon Watts. RNZ / Mark Papalii
There were growing calls before the recent serious attacks for the decades-old Dog Control Act to be overhauled.
But Local Government Minister Simon Watts said then there was no time to do that before the election, and he would not commit to changes if National returned to power.
He said he was focused on options that did not need law changes.
On Monday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the government was open to intervening but councils could be tougher and enforce the powers they already had.
“We’re very happy to take further action and to support councils in cracking down on this,” he told RNZ.
Duncan-Sutherland said a systematic review had shown legislation, especially laws that reduced the dog population, were the most effective strategies.
“It is frustrating that over the last sort of three years we have been saying that this legislative change needs to happen because we have known about this problem for a long time, for around sort of nearly 10 years, really, we have known that this existed,” she said.
“In fact, 40 years ago, there were people who were doctors who were saying, ‘hey, this is an issue in New Zealand’.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
