Domestic Animals Act 2000
53Destruction of attacking dogs
Start here
Get a plain-English read of 53
Turn the raw legal text into a practical explanation grounded in Domestic Animals Act 2000.
53 Destruction of attacking dogs (1) A person may destroy a dog that attacks the person if the destruction of the dog is necessary to bring the attack to an end.
(2) A person may destroy a dog found attacking someone else or an animal if the destruction of the dog is necessary to bring the attack to an end. (3) A person may destroy a dog found in an enclosed field if the person reasonably believes that an animal confined in the field has just been killed, injured or attacked by the dog. (4) Subsection (3) does not apply if the dog cannot move freely about the field because of a leash or other form of restraint. field includes a paddock, yard or other place.