Kate Hawkesby: The rise in uncontrolled dogs is a problem

In my ongoing obsession with all things canine, I was interested to see that Wellington has a problem at the moment with uncontrolled dogs.  

It was reported in a Wellington City Council dog control report, that “the number of uncontrolled dogs has increased by 26 percent in the last year. Sixty-five attacks on people, 78 on animals, and 697 uncontrolled dogs were reported.” Not only that, but disturbingly ‘the report suggested the high number of attacks and aggressive dog behaviour appeared to be a nationwide issue.’  

And I’m not surprised. The number of people who let their dogs off leash in parks or public spaces —who then run rampant menacing people— and other dogs is outrageous. And it’s not even the dog’s fault half the time, it’s poor ownership.  

I was at a park the other day with my dog and an owner drove up, flicked open her car boot and two huge unleashed dogs leapt out and just went beserk all over the place running up to people and their dogs and bothering them, jumping up on them, running at other dogs, all the while the owner carried on with her takeaway coffee like she was oblivious. She looked completely disinterested in the fact her dogs were going crazy bothering other dogs. This is despite very clear rules around dogs on leashes in public spaces.  

So what can you do?  I’m not sure dog patrol officers are that interested unless there’s an actual attack. Travelling overseas in places where dogs in pubs and shops is commonplace, I notice that given those privileges afforded to dogs and their owners, the dogs seem better behaved. They have fewer violent incidents or out of control dogs. It’s unheard of to see a dog walking down the street without a leash. Owners seem to have them in check and under close and careful watch. The dogs behave accordingly.  

We were talking about this recently in London. The dogs were just so docile, same in New York. Dogs everywhere but not a single one bothered you as they were all well contained and well behaved.  

One of the excuses given up here for our increasingly badly behaved dogs is that Covid and lockdown meant dogs were less socialized. I have no idea how that’s true given people walked their dogs like there was no tomorrow during lockdowns. It’s the one thing people did do – lots of dog walking and you had way more people at home with their dogs.  

But an out of control dog is not just a problem for other dogs, but also people. Dog attacks can be absolutely vicious, and in some cases fatal. I’ve been bitten by a dog – it’s nasty. Not to mention all the faff that goes with it of antibiotics, tetanus injections, and a long slow healing process. But they also attack wildlife, that’s been an issue in Wellington too. “Several little blue penguins were killed by dogs in the Wellington region”.. reports said coastal areas could be extremely dangerous places to have a dog off a lead.  

Yet we see it all the time don’t we? Every time I raise the issue of dogs people always contact me saying it’s the owner, the owner, the owner, it’s not the dog. Yes and no. There are some dodgy backroom breeds out there from some dodgy operators or illegal breeders who make a lot of money out of putting pesky dogs out into the world. I’m sure solutions to this problem are multifaceted, but we need to clamp down on it because badly behaved aggressive dogs being on the increase is not a good thing. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.