Auckland Council’s Menacing Dogs Amnesty has now expired, with 1,114 dog owners registering 1,225 previously unregistered dogs.
“This response is ten times better than we had hoped for and we are grateful for the overwhelming support we have received from local community leaders,” says Geoff Keber, Manager - Animal Management.
The amnesty was across Auckland but particularly targeted South Auckland and parts of West Auckland where incidents of dog attacks on both people and other animals were higher than the rest of the region.
“Before the amnesty, out of 30,000 registered dogs in South Auckland, just 700 were listed as pit bull types, one of the qualifying breed types. Now we have doubled the number of registrations of pit bulls and other menacing dogs in South Auckland alone,” he says.
Geoff says unregistered dogs are much more prevalent in dog-related harm statistics than registered dogs.
Next steps
The council’s Animal Management Officers have now begun actively searching for and seizing unregistered menacing dogs that are not compliant with the Dog Control Act.
Owners of seized dogs will have seven days to pay any relevant fees, de-sexing or registration costs before reclaiming their dogs. Dogs left unclaimed after seven days will be euthanised if they have been classified as menacing by breed or type (under the Dog Control Act) or dangerous by deed.
TV3's Story went out with Auckland Council's animal management team for a day - watch the report.
