Central Coast Council to prepare ‘pet ownership’ policy cracking down on dog attacks

The recent savage death of a 12-year-old dog named Buddy by two Staffordshire terriers has prompted council to set tougher penalties for dog owners.

Central Coast Council has called for “zero-tolerance” on dog attacks across the region with owners to cop mandatory fines.

It comes after the savage death of a coast dog “Buddy” who was viciously killed by two Staffordshire terriers as his owner was heading out of her front gate.

Interim Administrator Dick Persson AM told Buddy’s story at Tuesday night’s council meeting, saying the email he received from Buddy’s owner was one of the most distressing he had received in his time in the public sector.

Generic photo of an unleashed aggressive dog.

“It was from a woman who had her dog Buddy, a little 12-year-old dog, ripped from her arms by these two terriers attacking her arms to get to the dog which they then killed at her feet,” he said. “Naturally she was very distressed.”

Mr Persson said he met with the woman, who was injured in the attack, to talk about what can be done, which prompted him to look into the issue.

He said there were about half a dozen incidents a year across the region where a dog or dogs kill another dog and are subsequently put down. There were seven in 2019 and five in 2020.

“In the course of this I discovered that the council policy was that we not apply the $1500 fine because there was a feeling that they had paid for losing their dogs,” he said.

“The dog is put down and that is the end of it.

Dick Persson AM has called for “zero tolerance” on dog attacks.

“I didn’t share that view. I believe the only price that has been paid is by the person whose dog was killed by the other dogs.”

Mr Persson has called for the council to develop a responsible pet ownership policy which includes the mandatory fine in the case of fatalities of other dogs, with case-by-case reviews to be carried out in cases of financial hardship.

“Most of the dogs in these situations have escaped and have been trained to attack and defend their property,” he said.

He said with the coast having the highest population of dogs in NSW at 143,000, this was a significant issue.

Council has also called for a review of dangerous dog breeds.

“Whilst the overall number of dog attack incidents on the coast has decreased over the previous four years, given our high rate of dog ownership, dog attacks are still a serious issue for the community and council’s community safety staff,” he said.

The policy will educate people and set out expectations for pet owners dealing with issues such as enclosures, off-leash areas and guidelines around other pets.

Council will also write to the State Government seeking the review of the list of dangerous dog breeds.

In 2020, Central Coast Council topped the Local Government NSW list for the most dog attacks on humans in the previous year with 280.

Data obtained by NewsLocal revealed a dramatic drop in the number of fines and convictions for the NSW owners of vicious dogs, despite attacks continuing at a steady pace.