A Gold Coast City councillor is lobbying for more powers to crackdown on dangerous dogs and their owners.

Currently there is no financial repercussion for the owners of dogs or cats who are deemed dangerous or declared menacing.

The Gold Coast had almost 600 dog attack complaints between January and October this year.

Gold Coast City councillor Hermann Vorster said the figures were probably much higher.

“I don’t think it’s breed specific … in my experience at least, what’s happening is, owners are failing to follow the rules, so they are not putting their dogs on a lead when they are required to and what happens then is that dogs that are only walked on leads don’t know how to react when they are rushed on by another animal,” he said on 4BC Drive.

He said a clampdown is needed.

“Our suspicion as a council is that a lot of people know what the rules are, and they are deliberately ignoring them.”

He said three things needed to change, including fining an owner whose dog has been involved in an attack, as well as removing a dog when an owner fails to register it.

Press PLAY to hear him explain more 

Image: Getty iStock