Eckhoff Gerrard: Local Government Law Reform Bill (No 2) — Consideration of Report of Local Government and Environment Committee 
Eckhoff Gerrard: Local Government Law Reform Bill (No 2) — Consideration of Report of Local Government and Environment Committee 
[Volume:613;Page:9756] 
GERRARD ECKHOFF (ACT) 
: 
 The introduction of this bill is very topical. As has been alluded to in this House it is just a few months since the rather horrific attack on young Carolina Anderson that clearly was the catalyst for the introduction of this bill. I was one of those unfortunate enough to view a photograph of that little girl’s face that was not shown to the media. Like everybody else in that room that day I was absolutely appalled at what I saw. If I may I will take a moment just to reflect that too often we do not recognise the people who quite literally put faces and people back together again. I think it is important to recognise the fantastic job that the medical profession does when faced with appalling circumstances like that of young Carolina. I am delighted to see that there has been a huge improvement and long may that continue as that beautiful young face and skin regenerate and the surgeons work their miracles as I am sure they will. 
Sometimes it is rather difficult to stand in the House and make a speech when one stands alone and bases one’s comments not on a lack of emotion a lack of understanding of what has gone on in the past but on certain principles that are quite important to me and indeed to our party. I am not sure at all—in fact I do not believe as indeed I am sure many in this House do not believe—that the passing of this law will suddenly be the panacea for dog attacks. That is just not going to happen. We have too many hugely irresponsible people in our society who constantly thumb their nose at authority whether it be a dog ranger a territorial authority or indeed the Government. Those are the people on whom the focus of this bill should always be. 
As a farmer I have some real interest in reading through this bill. I have owned many many dogs and some of them have been quite stroppy one might say. Many would be referred to as dangerous by those who do not know how to handle such dogs on a farm. A big huntaway with a young child can be quite dangerous. So I bring some understanding to this issue. But there should be an emphasis quite rightly on the dangerous dog as distinct from the law-abiding citizen as Jim Peters has just alluded to. Far and away the vast majority of dog owners are decent law-abiding sensible people who enjoy the opportunity of owning a dog. It is very much a part of the New Zealand way of life. How many of us have received a pup for a birthday or at Christmas time? Growing up with animals is part of who we are and what we are in this country. I would certainly not want to see that changed. 
But I ask this question of the House. Would the Governor-General’s dog which flew at a golden retriever in a very public way just recently qualify as a dangerous dog? That dog attacked another dog in an inappropriate way. That retriever was doing a fantastic job for its mistress and was attacked by that little whatever it was—it looked like a small pug or something. I do not consider that dog as dangerous but some might construe it to be so. 
A working dog or any dog that is suddenly woken by its master or indeed by a child or anybody else instantly reacts. I myself from time to time have had the jaw of a good dog clamped on my wrist or hand before it realised that it was the hand that fed it—literally. Even sensible sound dogs if not approached correctly can react. I have had dogs caught in fences. When I have rushed over to stop them from breaking a leg they have clamped their jaws on whatever part of me they can get hold of because they think it is me who is hurting them and causing them very real pain. So we have situations where members of the public unwittingly through wanting to help an animal in some distress are bitten. A dog with unrecognised pain whether it be in a leg back shoulder or whatever will react to that as well. 
We also get situations where dogs become very protective of their owners. They become very territorial. That is just an instinctive part of what a dog is. Some would regard a dog that attacked in a territorial situation as being dangerous. Well no that is not so. It is part of the natural process of that animal. The problem is the lack of understanding of the general public in not recognising that that situation will occur. 
I note with some humour on this rather serious subject that dogs that actually lunge or chase cars can also be regarded as dangerous. Well dogs often chase cars but once they catch one they do not have a clue what to do with it. That is often the way. Members of the public swerve to get out of the way of an animal whether it is a possum a dog or a cat and thereby endanger their own lives or indeed those of other road users. Again it is not so much the fault of the animal; it is in fact a lack of understanding by the general public of how to handle those situations. 
I mentioned earlier that part of the New Zealand psyche was the keeping of pets. All of us enjoy these concepts. I recall that just recently a tiger used in a show mauled its owner after many years of a perfectly fine relationship. Animals will react uncharacteristically sometimes in certain situations and we do not know enough about that. The reaction of our community is to ban dangerous dogs ban tigers being used in shows and ban horses. I have a neighbour who was kicked in the face by a horse and has had titanium plates inserted. We cannot turn round and react to those appalling situations—as they are—by passing laws to stop them. In fact that is not what happens. 
I am concerned as much as anybody else in this House about gang members and dog breeders who deliberately breed fighting dogs to gain some status or mana. That is absolutely outrageous. One problem is that the existing law is not being utilised to ensure that those people are not allowed to perpetuate that practice. Cross-breeding in the animal kingdom cannot be stopped. As any good breeder of any animal will tell us the straight breed is not the problem; it is the cross-breed. How do we stop that? How do we legislate for those concepts? Microchipping may well help in some circumstances but the predators in our society—those who live on the other side from law-abiding citizens—will not worry two hoots about this legislation. They will not line up to register their pit bulls Dobermanns or whatever they might be down at the local regional council office. We will penalise only the good decent law-abiding dog owners up and down the country who ensure that their dogs are well cared for and well looked after and have the right temperament. Regrettably we have to accept that if animals are to be part of our lives whether they be horses dogs or cats there is an element of risk. That is part of the price we pay and it was a rather terrible price in the case of little Carolina.