Dangerous-dog costs may rise | Hawkes Bay News | Local News in Hawkes Bay

A crackdown by the Napier City Council could see owners of unregistered, impounded dangerous or menacing dogs pay up to $600 to get their pet back.

At a council meeting on Wednesday, Mayor Barbara Arnott recommended an impounding charge for unregistered dogs be introduced at the maximum rate of $125. The current charge for registered dogs is $50 for the first impounding, rising to $75 and $125 respectively for second and third offences.

The new charge would increase the first-time cost for owners of dogs classified as menacing or dangerous by $75.

``It seems fair that responsible owners who register their dogs should pay less than those who don't,'' Mrs Arnott said.

Under council policy, all impounded dogs are required to be registered before being released. The current annual registration fee for menacing or dangerous dogs is $126.

All menacing and dangerous dogs are also required to be microchipped ($25) and neutered ($150 + $1.25 per kg of body weight). Owners would also have to pay a seizure fee of $75, a pound sustenance fee of $8 a day, as well as the additional $125 impounding fee.

Mrs Arnott said the possibility of paying up to $600 to get a pet back would make owners think ``hard and fast'' about having an unregistered dangerous or menacing dog. The $125 impounding fee would also act as an incentive for other owners to register their dogs. She said the council was aiming to reduce the number of dangerous and menacing dogs in the city, after attacks around the country in recent months.

In Wairoa, a 3-year-old girl was admitted to hospital in January after being mauled by a pitbull terrier, while a 30-year-old man lost part of a lip after being attacked by another pitbull in Flaxmere last month.

Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule is looking to introduce tougher regulations relating to dangerous dogs at a council meeting this month.

He has called on the Government to raise the classification of pitbulls from menacing to dangerous. That would require them to be neutered, muzzled in public and kept in cages on the owner's property. They would eventually be banned.