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Pit bull - Source: ONE News
Hastings is keen to follow Britain's lead, where dogs on a list of banned breeds can be destroyed.
Hastings District Council already takes a tough line, charging the highest fines in the country for unregistered dogs but it wants to introduce new rules which could see all pit bulls and pit bull cross dogs put down, the Dominion Post reported.
In the 2008-09 financial year, the council recorded 60 dog attacks on people, 90 attacks on other animals, and 115 incidents in which dogs rushed people in a threatening manner. More than half the dogs that went through the pound were pit bull crosses.
"We have a problem, it has got worse over the past 18 months, and the current controls that we have in place and the level of resourcing are not enough to tackle that problem," safety manager Malcom Hart told Thursday's council meeting.
Mayor Lawrence Yule wants banned dogs put down based on their appearance and without proof of being a danger, as happens in Britain.
The pit bull terrier, Japanese tosa, dogo Argentino, and fila Braziliero breeds are all on Britain's list of banned breeds.
Only court action and strictly imposed conditions could save a dog there.
Acknowledging that New Zealand law does not allow such a move, Yule says the government will be lobbied to follow Britain's example.
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