Dogs trained to hunt and attack animals pursuant to their owner's direction do not attack 'without provocation' within s 33 of the Companion Animals Act 1998 (NSW), and accordingly cannot be declared 'dangerous' on that basis alone. A council's failure to declare dogs dangerous under s 34 will not attract civil liability under s 43A of the Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) where complaints were sporadic and infrequent and were reasonably dealt with by approaches to the owner and issuing fines. Section 15B(2)(a) of the Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) requires only that the claimant provided services to the relevant class of dependants before the injury, not to each individual dependant.
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