Can Poor People Own Dogs in New Zealand?

Below another sad story about one of the worst places for dog control in the country: Papakura. The story is given as emailed to us.

I am at the moment trying to work through yet another injustice served up
by Papakura 'Dog Control'. So far, in all of my discussions and written
communication with them over ALLEGED INFRINGEMENTS ($800.00 fine). I have
found them to be totally vague and unhelpful. I do wonder what the
education requirement is for their position.

My family own 2 dogs, a black Lab & Staffy. They have a large fenced
property and are free to play under our supervision when we are at home and
a huge 6ft fenced compound with locked gate to hang out in when we are at
work. We built the compound for them to keep them safe from our neighbours

Not in Manukau unfortunately, but they did in Whangarei:

On the dog control issue, in response to a question from the audience, Warren Slater took issue with several members of the district council trying to 'stone wall' the acceptance of a dog review saying their behaviour was disgusting.

Simon Vallings said the issue was about having a love for all creatures and reducing suffering wherever possible.

Unfortunately our campaign, with more than 600 petitions, didn't mean anything with our city councillors. They all voted to continue the current policy, which for poor people means the death of the family pet if they did forget their registration, or being open to harassment from neighbours.

The details are in the agenda of the June meeting of the environment and urban design committee. It starts at page 19. It reads as if it was written by a robot. The council might look at payment of fines in part:

On the left Lucky, the dangerous dog, who stepped on a boy's arm. And the inflexibility of bureaucrats and how the power of the law can come done for no reason on a dog owner.

Lucky is still alive. Small wonder in a city like Manukau. His story begins when he is 7 years old. The family he grows up in, plays with him all the time. As do children of the neighbours.

The story is Zena is a story full of animal cruelty. What people can behave like this?

Zena lived in a fully fenced rear yard. She was 7 years old. Zena's owner was a Mum, the sole occupant of the house. She felt save having Zena. Young children of relatives would play with Zena as she was a quiet and friendly little dog. One day a male dog hopped over the fence and after a while Zena had a litter of nine pups.

At six weeks of age, Zena's Mum had the pups on soft food and had rehomed four of them.

But then Zena's mum had to leave the home for a short while and when she returned she noticed 2 DSS vans parked two houses down form her house. Her daughter had just arrived and was parked on the drive way. Her daughter told her Zena and the pups were in one of the vans.

This is the story of Rocky and Blackgirl. Family pets who were loved by the children in this family. Even the toddlers played with them. Both dogs were secure in a fully fenced rear yard. They were quiet and could not be seen from the street.

In January of this year somehow the gate was left open. Rocky ran out to the neighbours, ate the neighbours cat food, yuck!, and ran straight back home. With the new powers granted to neighbours, the neighbour immediately called the pound.

Be sure to watch Campbell live tonight:

Shot in the head and dumped in open pits. That's the way runaway dogs are being disposed of in Whangarei. So why is this being allowed to happen and should it be allowed to happen?

We hear from local dog owners and the council about an issue that has more than a few residents growling.

Just heard this today: 40% of Americans has a dog. Is the percentage in NZ that high?

The Manukau Courier continues to print stories of abuse of dog owners. And letter writers send in stories as well. Such as this one from N.P. Dobbs, a regular writer:

Dog licensing is supposed to enable the council to cope with strays and protect us from dangerous dogs.
In the past, dog officers I have met have been reasonable and diplomatic, finding facts and curing problems. But this seems to be changing.
As so often happens when laws are made to enable those in authority to protect us, some carry them out to the letter, even when it's not needed.

And he continues to give an example of two (!) neighbours who had to pay a small fortune to get their dog back.

We've put our submission to the Manukau City Council and the text of our oral submission on our website. And we presented over 640 signatures!

It's now up to the Manukau City Council to respond. We asked for basic changes, all within their powers. Changing the law of the land, to add checks and balances to the seize and destroy powers, will be a longer, but another necessary battle.