A grant of $468,000 from the Lottery Minister’s Discretionary Fund to the SPCA for dog desexing is set to help address irresponsible dog breeding and the dangers posed by dog roaming in New Zealand, says Internal Affairs Minister, Brooke van Velden.
The Minister said the SPCA’s own contribution will bring the total funding for the initiative to nearly $1.2 million.
The Lottery Minister’s Discretionary Fund provides one-off grants to not-for-profit organisations and for projects that fall outside the scope of the Lottery Grants Board distribution committees.
“The SPCA wrote to me offering solutions for dog attacks, suggesting that funding towards dog desexing programmes could be pursued with the aim of reducing dog bite incidents,” says Ms van Velden.
“Like many New Zealanders, reports of uncontrolled dogs roaming and irresponsible dog breeding has concerned me.
“There have been four lives lost in four years, and every year thousands of injuries from dog bites are recorded. The toll of these incidents on communities and families has grown too large, and preventative measures are needed.
“This desexing programme is part of a wider Government package to tackle the problem of these horrific attacks, with further detail to be announced soon.”
The Minister said overpopulation of roaming dogs contributes to the threat of these attacks on public safety, wildlife, and farming communities. The grant will be used for a targeted desexing programme for dogs most likely to roam or contribute to uncontrolled dog breeding in Auckland and Northland.
“Desexing is one of the most effective tools we have to keep communities safe and improve animal welfare,” says Dr Arnja Dale, SPCA Chief Scientific Officer.
With three of the last four fatal dog attacks occurring in Northland, focusing on these areas has the greatest potential for harm reduction. It is expected to reduce the roaming dog population and prevent 7,500 puppies being born in the first year and approximately 45,000 puppies across the lifetime of the desexed female dogs in the programme.
The SPCA will provide the Minister with quarterly progress reports on programme delivery and the number of dogs desexed.
