Community complaints about roaming dogs are taking considerable time and effort for council staff to sort and, according to a council report, the complaints are growing in line with the increasing number of dog registrations in the district.

These and other facts were revealed in the council’s annual report presented to councillors last week detailing dog control activities undertaken by Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) in the last financial year (from July 1 2020 - June 30 2021).

The report said roaming dogs cause the most Requests For Service (RFS) from the community and council staff spend the largest proportion of their time responding, educating and enforcing.

Where possible, animal control officers have been reuniting first-time roaming offenders “with a positive history” with their owners and this has resulted in a decrease in the number of dogs impounded from 68 to only 53. 

More than 5720 dogs were registered in the district this year, slightly up on last year, but so too were the number of reported dog attacks on people and the number of incidents where dogs were identified as worrying farm stock.

While the total number of dog attacks reduced by 12.9 per cent compared with last year’s statistics, the number of attacks on humans increased from 8 attacks in 2019-20 to 16 in 2020-21. 

Two of these attacks, by the same dog, were categorised as serious and the dog has since been classified as ‘menacing’ by behaviour. Currently, there are 13 menacing dogs registered in the district, which is fewer than last year, and four ‘dangerous’ dogs registered.

The number of complaints for barking dogs received has also increased from 164 last year to 251 this year.

QLDC regulatory support, animal control and parking team leader Carrie Edgerton said the increase in complaints over barking dogs could be attributed to more people working from home than in past years.

“Dogs are being heard that may not have been heard in the past,” she said.

Despite the increase in barking dog complaints, no infringements were issued for failing to comply with a barking dog abatement notice. All barking complaints were resolved as dog owners were cooperative and successfully worked towards reducing their dogs’ barking behavior, the report said. 

Council continues to provide the free use of anti-bark devices to dog owners and has increased its investment in voice recorded bark collars. 

Other community-based initiatives include the ‘Clue Up Kids’ programme with primary schools and local children’s groups to help educate children around approaching dogs and local bylaws on dog control; free dog training classes led by a qualified dog behaviourist in both Queenstown and Wānaka; and dog walks.

PHOTO: Travis Weathers