Can Poor People Own Dogs in New Zealand?

From KC DOG BLOG, in America, but so familiar here:

Two 'pit bulls' in Crawford County, MI are on death row -- but not for reasons you might suspect.

A report by TVNZ:

An Auckland dog owner is up in arms after animal control officers broke into his fenced backyard and took his dog.

The family pet was seized because its registration had expired but the owner believes the council overreacted. ...

"We were essentially 18 days overdue and it seems like a really radical step," says Broderick.

Animal Control actually went to great lengths to capture the dog.

They came down the side of the property and reaching the gate, which is locked from the inside, neighbours said they then jumped the fence and dragged Stanley away. ...

Photo will be posted.
Story received recently - edited.

" I live in Papatoetoe and recently one of my dogs barked, which usually means somethings up. I am retired and feel safe because if they bark there is always something up. In 5 mins the dog catchers were at the front door saying they had a NEIGHBOUR COMPLAINT THAT A DOG HAD BARKED. Both of my dogs were loaded in the van and they were gone. They werent registered because I dont have much money left over every week and I asked if I could pay off the registration like I do with all my other bills but they just wouldnt let me. They said pay the cash in 7days or we kill your dogs.

Photo will be posted.
Story received recently - edited.

"Our 2 dogs and a tiny puppy rested alot on their bed in the back door porch.
You cant see the porch from the road. We left them there for a short time and when we came home, the dogs and the puppy were gone. The note in the letterbox said they were at
the pound. We went to the pound and Dad could only afford to get one of our dogs out, they then killed our other family pet and our little puppy.
We kept saying to them but our dogs are registered (the little puppy wasnt) so why the hell did you take our dogs. They said "OUR DOGS WERE ON A LIST". They refused to tell us what the list was for. Our dogs have Amstaff in them so maybe thats why.

Photo to be posted.

The above dog is the 9th dog known of to be owned by this family.
The previous 8 were slaughtered by Ken Muirs dog slaughter business,
the above dog will also be slaughtered shortly - also for non registration.

Ken Muirs dog catchers regularly visit this house, take the latest dog and the family are fined another $300 non registration fine. Then the family get another dog and the process is repeated. To date they have paid $2,400 in non registration fines. When the above beautiful natured perfectly rehomable dog is slaughtered another $300 fine will be in the post.

The ratepayer dips out on the annual registration fee, the dog slaughter company gets richer, the family learn nothing. NZ's dog welfare act is out of control.

(photo to be posted)

Story known to this website for sometime. Dog owner posts up to date court transcripts
and correspondence regularly.

In essence this is being run by the NZ Police. This is a welfare issue. The Police
decided at the start they would deal with this and that they would be the welfare experts. As a result the NZ taxpayer has unbeknowingly paid approx $33,000 annually to police crown solicitors to defend in court as to why the police took the dog. The dog has been held in storge for 3 years hence the +++ in costs. We understand approx $22,000
has now been accumulated in storage costs due ongoing. This is on top of the $100,000
legal fees already paid to date.

7.30am knock at the door.
Animal control standing there demanding to see a puppy recently registered
to my address. I said " I dont have a registered puppy here". The uniformed

This happened to me 2 weeks ago in Manurewa.

I came home from work, my home had been broken into,it had been totally ransacked - ie every drawer, cupboard, wardrope had been emptied onto the floor, the place was a total shambles. My dog/my babe was not there.

I am 7mnths pregnant - working full time, low socio economic (no there are no drugs in my home).

In the NZ Herald today:

Local Government Minister Rodney Hide plans a complete review of dog laws, saying dogs are subject to more controls than ever, and their owners' rights to enjoy them are overly restricted.

Mr Hide said he had asked officials to look at a "first principles" review of all dog laws, describing present legislation as an "onerous muddle," much of it created through emotion after of individual high-profile dog attacks rather than after clear thinking.

He was concerned councils were taking their powers too far, and said they needed to remember dog ownership was a property right and good reasons were needed to fetter it.