A fatal mauling has intensified scrutiny on dog-control laws that critics say are struggling to cope with the scale and seriousness of the issue, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s excerpt from The Bulletin.
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Warning signs before fatal attack
Following the death of Mihiata Te Rore, 62, mauled by dogs at a property in Kaihu on Tuesday, attention has landed on what happened in the months prior to the attack. RNZ’s Finn Blackwell reports that Kaipara District Council animal control staff had visited the property four times after complaints in November, December and this week, including a visit the day before Te Rore was killed, but were unable to speak to the owner or remove the dogs. Police say three dogs living at the property were involved in the attack; they have since been impounded and will be destroyed once the investigation is complete.
Te Rore is the third person to be killed by dogs in Northland in the past four years, but the dog-attack problem isn’t limited to that part of the country. On the same day as Te Rore’s killing, the Court of Appeal upheld an Auckland teacher’s conviction after her rottweiler pulled away from her teenage son and tore a 10–15cm wound in a 70-year-old woman’s arm on a New Lynn footpath.
A region living in fear
Northland’s dog problem extends well beyond rare fatalities. RNZ has reported communities adapting daily life around roaming dogs: in Ahipara, residents are “arming themselves with sticks” after packs mauled neighbourhood pets and chased children, with some parents too frightened to let kids walk to school. In Whangārei, grandmother Tracy Clarke said she had not walked even to the corner in three years after repeated close calls with aggressive roaming dogs; she organised a petition to parliament calling for tougher laws.
Leonie Exel, a Bay of Islands dog advocate, described the situation as “out of hand”, linking it to worsening poverty and social alienation – people lacking money for fencing, food and vet care, and “exhausted” owners letting their dogs wander. Even tourists are being menaced: a cyclist told RNZ he and his wife were chased for minutes on a track north of Whangārei, and others have reported having to fend off dogs on Northland cycle trails.
Pressure for reform
Political pressure is now building for tougher action and stronger laws. Christopher Luxon called Te Rore’s death “unacceptable”, saying that while councils were primarily responsible for dog control, he was open to central government intervention if needed. Winston Peters went much further, arguing owners of dogs that commit fatal attacks should face manslaughter charges, describing such cases as “facilitating murder”, the Herald’s Adam Pearse reports (paywalled).
Yet councils and advocates say the problem is partly structural: the Dog Control Act dates to 1996, and there is a growing consensus that the laws are no longer fit for purpose. Auckland Council’s animal management team says it has pushed for reform over the past year. It is seeking expanded mandatory desexing powers, including the ability to desex impounded dogs or those deemed high-risk, and stronger tools to prevent repeat roaming and breeding.
What drives dog attacks
An in-depth piece by Sally Blundell in The Listener (paywalled) points to why enforcement alone will not solve the problem. Veterinary behaviourist Jess Beer argues aggression is less about breed labels and more about a dog’s individual genetics and lived experience, and warns that old-school, punishment-based training can backfire, producing dogs less able to manage stress and more likely to display aggression. Confined living spaces, lack of exercise and poor socialisation can all compound the issue, particularly when dogs have few safe opportunities to “do normal dog things” and learn calm behaviour in public.
Critically, ACC says most dog-bite injuries occur in private homes – which helps explain why many incidents go unreported and why data does not reflect the true extent of the problem. The bleak throughline in much of the reporting is that this is both a public-safety issue and a social one – and the basic truth that a powerful animal without structure, exercise or care can be, in the worst circumstances, a tragedy waiting to happen.
More from The Spinoff on Auckland dog attacks:
