Auckland Council has renewed calls to reform New Zealand's dog control laws after a woman was fatally mauled in Northland this week.
A police investigation was launched after 62-year-old Mihiata Te Rore was found dead at a property on State Highway 12 in Kaihū on Tuesday morning. She had been visiting someone she knew at the property when three dogs attacked her.
The tragedy has prompted calls from organisations, including the SPCA, to change New Zealand's 30-year-old Dog Control Act (1996).
A woman in here 60s was mauled to death by three dogs while visiting someone she knew in Kaihū. (Source: 1News)
Now, Auckland Council, which has long called for changes to the way New Zealand deals with roaming and dangerous dogs, has released a new statement calling for change.
Robert Irvine, general manager of licensing and compliance, said the law was "no longer fit for purpose" and said that without change, "we will see more tragedies like this occur".
He said the council was doing everything it could to reduce dog-related harm, including investing $10 million in more animal management officers, additional shelter space, free desexing, and increased community awareness.
"Even with all this extra resource, which is far more than some of our fellow councils are able to invest, we are struggling to keep a lid on high numbers of roaming and attacks."
Irvine said the council had presented the Government with a list of "practical changes" to give councils greater powers to keep communities safe.
The list included the ability to desex high-risk dogs that come through shelters, or put fencing standards in place for properties where dogs repeatedly roam.
"We also need stronger powers to seize and detain dogs, as too often we are required to leave dogs with their owners even when we know they pose a risk," Irvine said.
"While current laws allow us to respond reactively to incidents, they don’t give the right tools for prevention. We remain committed to working with the government on getting these changes enacted and preventing more tragedies from taking place."
Today's statement echoed and called for the same things as a similar one made in July 2025.
In that statement, the council called for legislation to improve the powers to detain a dog after an attack; reduce the number of dangerous and menacing dogs; improve controls on dangerous dogs; improve the prosecution process; provide councils the ability to set fencing standards and enforcement; and require mandatory reporting of attacks to Animal Management.
To crack down on irresponsible owners, the councils wanted laws that would enable councils to set an infringement schedule relevant to the issues in their area; improve enforcement powers against dog owners for non-payment of registration; and improve powers of Animal Management Officers.
It is believed the dog population could be controlled by allowing councils to set a policy on mandatory desexing; the desexing of impounded dogs before they are released back to the owner; and reducing holding days in shelters from seven to five days.
SPCA’s chief scientific officer Dr Arnja Dale told Breakfast this week that it was "time to actually make some change here".
SPCA’s Chief Scientific Officer Dr Arnja Dale said New Zealand's dog control laws were "incredibly outdated" and needed an overhaul. (Source: 1News)
She said New Zealand's dog laws were "incredibly outdated".
“We need central Government to show some leadership and actually deal with this problem once and for all."
It's been revealed animal control staff visited the property the day before Te Rore was killed. Members of the community had also been concerned about the animals.
The dogs were with animal management, and police wanted to hear from anyone in the Kaihū community who had experienced issues with dogs roaming in the area.
The fatal mauling was the region's third in four years – the fourth nationwide.
Cabinet Minister Shane Jones said owners of “homicidal dogs” should face a “very severe level of punishment”.
NZ First leader Winston Peters said: "If someone has been killed because of it, it should be the same penalties [for owners]".
Local Government Minister, Simon Watts, said the Government was “continuing work on several approaches to support better dog control, including improving the quality and consistency of national dog-related data”.
"The Department is also working with the local government sector to refresh and improve dog control enforcement guidelines. This work will ensure consistent enforcement across New Zealand, and updated guidelines are expected to be issued by the beginning of Quarter 3, 2026.
"Following [Tuesday's] tragic event, I have additionally asked officials for urgent advice on all available options to address this issue immediately."
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