The Invercargill City Council will take a harder line against aggressive and unregistered dogs after the third dog attack in the city in a week.
A man and three women were bitten during the attacks and all the dogs were euthanised, Invercargill City Council environmental health and compliance manager John Youngson said yesterday.
Animal control staff and Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt met yesterday to ''brainstorm'' how animal control officers could respond better, he said.
''We have a problem and we need to do something about it. We are definitely trying to make the streets safe,'' Mr Youngson said.
Three extra animal control staff were employed in October and that was making some impact, he said.
Last week, two women walking in Henderson St, South Invercargill, were knocked to the footpath and bitten by two large mastiff-type dogs which had escaped from a residential property. One woman received a broken arm as well as bites.
A few days later a woman was bitten by a dog in Lithgow St, eastern Invercargill, and on Monday, a Post Haste courier driver was bitten by a mastiff-cross dog which jumped out of the open window of a house in Anglem St, South Invercargill, and ''latched on to'' his arm.
Mr Youngson said he did not know the breed of the dog involved in the Lithgow St incident.
The courier driver was in hospital on Tuesday night awaiting surgery, Mr Youngson said.
He did not know whether the man had had surgery or was still in hospital, as animal control staff had not yet spoken to him.
Post Haste referred calls to its parent company, Freightways. Its chief executive, Dean Bracewell, declined to comment.
Mr Youngson said one of the major problems in Invercargill was unregistered dogs.
Following an informal survey of parts of the city it was estimated 700-800 dogs - about 9% of the city's canine population - could be unregistered, he said.
One of the Henderson St dogs was unregistered but the other three animals were registered, Mr Youngson said.
Animal control staff had visited the Anglem St property in November responding to complaints about barking and found an unregistered dog - the same dog which bit the courier driver.
However, he said the owners registered the dog when asked to and it was allowed to remain at the house.
Among tougher measures being considered now were immediately seizing and impounding unregistered dogs whether they were found at home or on the street, and asking people to ''dob in'' neighbours they thought might have unregistered dogs.
Mr Youngson said while the Henderson St dogs were ''fierce'', the dog involved in the latest incident had not appeared threatening or aggressive.
When animal control officers visited the property on Tuesday they found the owners had already taken the dog to a vet and had it put down, he said.
''They have taken a very co-operative attitude and handled it very responsibly.''
The owners of the dog in Lithgow St had also chosen to have their dog put down by a vet, he said.
The Henderson St dogs were seized by animal control officers and euthanised with the owners' consent.
