Editorial: Dog laws must be reviewed without delay

If you'd asked Wairoa dog owner Dylan Pukeke last week whether pit bull terriers posed an unreasonable threat to public safety he'd probably have said no. He'd owned his pit bull Stolen for two years and had never seen him act violently.

Ask him today and you'd get a different answer. Last Sunday Stolen mauled a friend's three-year-old daughter when she went into his backyard. The girl nearly lost an eye and will bear the facial scars for the rest of her life. Mr Pukeke is reported to be "gutted". The same day, a five-year-old Whakatane girl was mauled so badly by two bulldog-pit bull crosses that she required 10 hours of surgery to "potentially-life threatening" injuries.

The attacks were just the latest in a distressing list of dog attacks, a disproportionate number featuring pit bulls and pit bull crosses.

The American Pit Bull Terrier Association says pit bulls are being unfairly singled out. It is delusional. Tauranga District Council manager John Payne, a council dog control officer for 20 years, says American pit bulls account for 2.3 per cent of the dog population but 12.5 per cent of reported attacks.

True, other dogs bite. A handful – those classified as dangerous under the Dog Control Act – are even more dangerous, but a bite from a pit bull – bred to rip and tear – does far more damage than a bite from a labrador, a corgi or a fox terrier.

The pit bull association's members may be responsible dog owners who keep their dogs leashed in public and behind secure walls in private. But unfortunately pit bulls and pit bull crosses also appeal to another group in society – a group whose members use them to bolster their self-images – and who show scant regard for the law. A common feature of attacks featuring pit bulls, and pit bull-crosses, is that the dogs are unregistered.

The dog laws, despite repeated tinkering by Parliament, are not working. Local Government Minister Rodney Hide says a review of dog laws is planned for next year. "What I want to know is ... have we got the laws right?"

He does not need to wait that long for the answer. The Wairoa three-year-old who was scarred for life on Sunday could tell him. So could the five-year-old attacked in Whakatane. So could Margit Christensen, the jogger savaged by eight bull terrier-cross pig dogs at Putaruru last year. So could Carolina Anderson, the seven-year-old who had to have reconstructive face surgery after a dog attack in 2003. And so could 56-year-old Virginia Ohlson. Or she could, if she was still alive. Ms Ohlson died in 2007 after being attacked by a pit bull terrier and a Staffordshire terrier cross in a Murapara street while out for an early-morning walk. The dogs were owned by her nephew.

Mr Hide should bring his review forward. Either the laws are not working or they are not being properly enforced. Every day of delay increases the likelihood that another child will have his or her face ripped off.

- © Fairfax NZ News