Choudhary Ashraf: Motions — Dog Control (Perro de Presa Canario) Order 2010—Approval 
Choudhary Ashraf: Motions — Dog Control (Perro de Presa Canario) Order 2010—Approval 
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Dr ASHRAF CHOUDHARY (Labour) 
: 
 Labour supports this motion on the Dog Control (Perro de Presa Canario) Order 2010 because more really needs to be done in this area. This Government has not done anything for the last 2 years. This do-nothing Minister of Local Government has been promising to do something for 2 years but he has not delivered anything. He has now brought this motion which as my colleague said earlier is not a proper way to deal with these issues. There is a proper way which is to go to the Regulations Review Committee and get this job done properly.  
This is an issue that the Labour Government handled very well in 2008. There had been serious attacks at the time and the public was up in arms about the attacks that were happening. The Labour Government did something about it and it declared some of these menacing dogs to be dangerous dogs and we took action. The current situation is that a lot of attacks still happen throughout the country. There were 10000 dog-related injuries throughout the country last year. In Auckland alone in the last 6 months there were 320 such attacks.  
Occasionally I get the opportunity to go to the local botanical garden in Manurewa and I can see that a lot of people are now slowly getting used to handling their dogs. There is an area where dogs have to be on a leash and there is a dedicated area for dogs to be walked. I am glad that a lot of dog owners are becoming responsible owners I must say that. In particular when I go there with my wife she is very scared of those dogs because she was attacked some years ago in Palmerston North. She is very very scared of dogs. We are very careful of any big dogs in this park and she is always very scared of them.  
This is the kind of issue about which a lot of people have— 
H V Ross Robertson 
: Emotional. 
Dr ASHRAF CHOUDHARY 
: Thank you Mr Robertson. It is an emotional issue for a lot of people particularly for young children and women. When people who are not used to dogs are attacked a lot of emotional issues come out in the newspapers and in the media and then we are all concerned about it.  
This is something that we should have dealt with in a good manner. We should not have waited for 2 years to do this thing. As Charles Chauvel said earlier this is something that should have been done in a proper way. I am glad that at last the Government and Ministers are taking some action about this particular species of dog the perro de presa Canario. I understand that there are not any of those dogs in New Zealand at the moment and through this measure there will be a ban on such a species coming to New Zealand. Our neighbour Australia has already banned this species of dog. It is very well known that this dog is bred for fighting purposes. We can do without that species of dog in New Zealand.  
With those words I support this motion. I hope that the Government and Mr Hide will take further action to have the proper review that he has been planning. He has been saying to us that he will do this. Thank you very much.