Far North dog control officers issued three times as many fines to owners last year as the council stepped up enforcement against unregistered owners.
By Susan Botting of Local Democracy Reporting
The officers also dealt with nearly twice as many complaints, enquiries and community education activities.
The Far North District Council's annual report on dog control 2025/26, due to be received by councillors on Thursday, paints a picture of a district grappling with complex dog control issues.
It comes as the Government undertakes a review of the Dog Control Act following several attacks across the country.
In the Far North, requests for service jumped from 2967 to 5845 since the last annual report in 2024/25 – an almost 100% increase.
While registration compliance improved and fewer dogs entered council shelters, infringements more than tripled from 672 to 2306, with more than 1600 extra notices issued between the two years.
Many of the infringements were issued between January and April this year, as part of a targeted campaign against owners who failed to register their dogs, the report said.
The crackdown appears to have improved compliance, with dog registration rates increasing from 88% in 2024/25 to 89.7% in 2025/26.
Increase in dangerous and menacing dogs
A woman in here 60s was mauled to death by three dogs while visiting someone she knew in Kaihū. (Source: 1News)
The report suggested the Far North District Council continues to face significant dog control challenges, including an increase in dangerous and menacing dogs and a large number of impounded dogs that are not reclaimed or rehomed.
Animal management staff dealt with substantially higher workloads, despite the number of known dogs in the district falling on paper following a council database clean-up.
The report says there were 8703 known dogs in the district, down from 9368 the previous year, after council removed deceased dogs from its records and updated ownership and address details.
Of those, 7808 were registered in 2025/26, leaving 895 known dogs unregistered and resulting in the registration compliance rate of 89.7%.
The reports also show a rise in the number of restricted owners and classified dogs.
The Far North had 13 people who are disqualified owners, and therefore banned from owning dogs because of serious or persistent offending, in 2025/26.
The district also recorded 15 probationary owners, who are people who have repeatedly breached dog control rules and are subject to additional monitoring and education requirements.
There were no probationary owners and just one disqualified owner in 2024/25.
Meanwhile, the number of Far North dogs classified as dangerous jumped from one to six in 2025/26.
Dangerous dogs have attacked, injured, or seriously threatened people or animals and are subject to the strictest controls under the Act. This included secure confinement on their owner's property, compulsory muzzling in public, microchipping and desexing.
The number of dogs classified as menacing, the next most serious classification, also increased. Menacing dogs are those considered a potential threat because of their breed, type or behaviour.
However, the year-on-year figures are difficult to reconcile. The 2024/25 annual report recorded 93 menacing dogs, while the 2025/26 report records 163 and describes that as an increase of 93 dogs from the previous year.
Fifty-six of the district's menacing dogs were American Pit Bull Terrier types.
Number of impounded dogs falls 10%
Roddy Pihema spoke to Breakfast about the issue of dogs, in the wake of yesterday’s fatal attack. (Source: Breakfast)
Despite the increase in enforcement activity, fewer dogs entered the Far North's council-run animal shelter system, with 569 dogs impounded in 2025/26, down just under 10% from 630 the previous year.
The number of dogs euthanised also fell slightly, from 376 to 355.
However, the proportion of impounded dogs being euthanised increased.
In 2024/25, about 59% of impounded dogs were euthanised. In 2025/26 that rose to about 62%, meaning nearly two-thirds of dogs taken into the council's shelter system were ultimately put down after being unclaimed and deemed unsuitable for rehoming.
Meanwhile, the proportion of impounded dogs returned to their owners or successfully rehomed fell by nearly 7%, from about 41% to about 38%.
Council initiated one prosecution over dog attacks in 2025/26. This compared with two the previous year, including one involving an attack on a young child that resulted in a conviction.
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
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