Auckland Council impounded more than 12,000 dogs last year - more than half were euthanised. As shelters overflow, many like this are never reclaimed, prompting urgent calls for law reform. Photo: Auckland Council / Supplied
Auckland Council is pushing for stronger powers under the Dog Control Act 1996 to address the growing number of roaming and uncontrolled dogs.
Despite this, frontline rescuers and local leaders say the crisis requires immediate on-the-ground action.
Saving Hope Foundation volunteer Jo Coulam said rescue groups were overwhelmed and felt abandoned.
Coulam criticised the council's desexing pilot for not targeting the right communities and highlighted that rescue groups carried too much of the burden.
Saving Hope has rehomed 637 dogs and puppies in the past month, with 46 requests received in a single day.
"We spoke, in May, about the Kāinga Ora houses and now, as we predicted, we have newborn puppies dumped on train tracks and in rubbish bins," she says. "Rescues like ours are left to do the hard work, while trying to educate owners, but we can't do it alone.
"By 1pm that day, we'd already had 32 more, including a mum and a litter of newborn pups. It's out of control."
Frontline officers are stretched thin as Auckland Council faces record numbers of roaming dog reports. Photo: Auckland Council / Supplied
South Auckland families at risk, MP warns
Manurewa MP Arena Williams said the situation had worsened over the past two years, affecting families and elderly residents, particularly in South Auckland.
"This is why I've been calling on the mayor and Councillor Josephine Bartley to pull together a taskforce," she said. "Central and local government need to work together for Aucklanders.
"Roaming dogs have got out of control in the last two years in Manurewa. Our kids and elderly people are at risk.
"Dog attacks are up and we're now seeing roaming packs of unowned dogs. Manurewa needs new solutions to deal with this rapidly escalating issue.
"National has spent a lot of time telling councils what to cut. This is an opportunity for ministers to do something constructive, and actually help Auckland with something that will genuinely benefit people in Manurewa and other communities affected."
Council defends response, calls for law reform
Auckland Council animal management manager Elly Waitoa said public safety was their top priority and dog owners must take responsibility for their pets.
Waitoa said, while desexing dogs was not the council's responsibility, it was stepping in, because of the scale of the problem.
She said the council sought stronger enforcement powers through legislative reform, which could include establishing conditions such as requiring fencing upgrades before a dog is released, mandating desexing in certain cases and introducing mandatory reporting of serious dog attacks to enable timely intervention.
"We've got children being attacked, people being attacked, animals being attacked," she said. "Children can't go to school, because they're being terrorised by aggressive dogs.
"They can't walk to their local shop because of dogs.
"We don't have unlimited resources. It is the dog owner's responsibility to desex their dog, but we are doing everything that we can at this stage with the funding that we have.
"We're calling for more tools, like mandatory fencing standards and hospital reporting of dog attacks. It's about giving councils real options, when education alone doesn't work."
Children cross the street on their way to school - safety concerns are rising as roaming dog incidents increase. Photo: Auckland Council / Supplied
Dog attack and roaming stats paint grim picture
In the past year, the council received 16739 reports of roaming dogs, 1341 reports of dog attacks on people and 1523 reports of attacks on other animals. Only 42 percent of dogs were reclaimed by their owners and more than 6000 were euthanised - more than half of all dogs impounded.
ACC claim data suggests the actual number of dog attacks is likely higher. Most serious attacks involving children happened in the family home and went unreported to council, said general manager Robert Irvine.
"Introducing mandatory hospital reporting would allow us to intervene and put measures in place to prevent attacks from happening again," he said.
Proposed changes to the Dog Control Act
To help reduce attacks and improve enforcement, Auckland Council is asking the government for powers to:
- Mandate desexing policies
- Require desexing, before releasing dogs from shelters
- Shorten the shelter holding period from seven to five days
- Detain dogs post-attack, if deemed dangerous
- Increase fines for obstructing officers or breaching orders
- Set localised infringement schedules
- Require hospitals to report serious dog attacks
"These changes make good common sense and would greatly improve our ability to protect Aucklanders from dog-related harm," said Irvine. "They would not affect the majority of dog owners, who we know are responsible."
Councillors say more regional support is needed
Council regulatory and safety committee chair Josephine Bartley said most dog owners were responsible, but stricter rules were now necessary.
"There is a group that just doesn't seem to care. Their actions are putting our communities at risk, particularly our tamariki, so having stricter rules around things like fencing and desexing has become necessary."
Manurewa-Papakura councillor Daniel Newman said local board budgets were insufficient to respond to the scale of the problem.
"I don't want to have to be looking around at local boards trying to fund desexing vouchers and what-have-you," he says. "This has to be a regional response to a region-wide problem."
SPCA backs action, but national investment needed
SPCA national community outreach manager Rebecca Dobson said the council-SPCA pilot only began in June and was too early to judge.
"Since 2022, SPCA has desexed 1294 dogs in Auckland. That's part of a national programme that's seen 55000 animals desexed and more than 200000 unwanted litters prevented."
She said meaningful progress required a significantly larger investment, estimated at more than $75 million.
"Rescue groups, SPCA, councils, vets and communities are all grappling with the fallout of people not desexing their pets. None of us can fix this alone.
"Desexing needs to become a priority for all pet owners."
Dobson also noted that enforcement was the council's role, not the SPCA's.
"The public should contact their local council when it comes to roaming dogs, dog attacks or public safety issues. SPCA works under the Animal Welfare Act, focused on cruelty prevention."
Council commits to further action
The council has committed $5.9 million to increase patrols and community education, and said further funding proposals were being prepared for next year's annual plan.
The message to dog owners is clear - keep your dogs secure, desexed and under control.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
