Dog complaints on the rise

The Central Otago District Council is seeking views on dog control following a rise in dog complaints and attacks in the region.

Feedback received via a council survey from residents will help shape a new dog control bylaw and policy.

A council dog control policy and practices report said a total of 238 public-safety-related dog complaints had been received by the council between July 2018 and June 2019.

The figure is up on the preceding period when 194 complaints had been received.

Dog attacks had jumped from 10 to 18, the report said.

"Dog control officers are continuing to educate and enforce as required."

The majority of the complaints over the two years had been about wandering dogs.

"Roaming dogs can frighten, intimidate and annoy the community in addition to potentially attacking people and other dogs."

The report said there had been an increase in the number of infringements issued for failure to keep dogs controlled or confined.

There are 6104 dogs registered for the 2018-19 financial year belonging to 3393 owners.

However, the number of infringements for failing to register a dog had dropped from 185 to 14.

Several comments had been made on a Facebook community group recently about dogs being off their leads.

The survey ends on November 30.

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