Mayor Moko Tepania vows to enhance Far North’s canine management system

Far North Mayor Moko Tepania has promised these protesting that the council’s dog control system is not fit for purpose that he has heard their considerations and can work to make the system higher.

About 40 individuals, many with dogs, protested outdoors the Far North District Council (FNDC) workplaces on Thursday over what they are saying is a canine management system that isn’t working successfully and isn’t match for goal, with far too many dogs getting put down.

The protest was organised by Bay of Islands Watchdogs co-ordinator Leonie Excel and Bay of Islands Animal Rescue founder Summer Johnson, after years of frustration with the way in which the FNDC ran its animal management. Both made displays to the next council assembly, to stipulate their considerations to councillors.

While they have been outdoors the council chambers forward of the assembly, they chanted “dogs’ lives matter” and Tepania got here out to speak to them and listen to their considerations.

He advised them he had heard them and would do what he might to enhance the council’s canine administration system, however acknowledged it was not a simple process.

“If I’m honest, I’m so happy to have our Far North whānau come here to show their dissatisfaction [with the dog control system]. It should be the community here pushing us to get things right,” he mentioned.

Tepania mentioned he had a canine within the whānau and understood how a lot they meant to individuals.

He mentioned the Far North had one of many lowest canine registration charges within the county, however presumably one of many highest variety of dogs, with as much as 12,000 within the area.

Tepania acknowledged the wandering canine situation was widespread within the Far North, and had been for a while, however vowed to attempt to flip the state of affairs round.

He mentioned there had been two fatal dog attacks in the region in the past 18 months or so and he didn’t wish to see that occur once more, and schooling on good pet possession was essential.

Johnson advised the councillors that her animal rescue group and others within the Far North saved the council loads of work and sources, however that they had no workers and little funding.

She mentioned previously yr the FNDC pounds had taken in 517 dogs, however her group had rehomed 969 in the identical time. As properly, the Donna Doolittle Animal Rescue centre in Kaitāia had rehomed lots of extra.

Johnson mentioned this took a few of the stress off the council’s two canine kilos, and if the 2 teams weren’t there, all these dogs would have gone into the council’s kilos and most of them would possible have been put down.

She mentioned the FNDC had the best canine euthanisation charge within the nation – 21 of the 28 dogs within the Kaitāia pound have been killed in September this yr – and the council needed to put extra money and sources into staffing the canine administration crew, desexing, schooling for canine homeowners and prosecuting dangerous canine homeowners whose animal attacked or frequently roamed.

Excel mentioned she was inspired by the mayor’s response to their considerations, however would solely consider that the system would change when it occurred.

“It’s great that Moko has listened to us, as we did not feel the council has been listening to us previously, and we’ll be watching to make sure he lives up to the commitment,” she mentioned.

The Far North has the best charge of dog-related accidents within the nation. Dog-related accidents had cost New Zealand $15.8 million within the yr to June 30, ACC figures reveal – an a rise of almost 50 % from 5 years earlier.

The Far North District leads the way in which with regards to canine assaults, with 427 ACC claims within the 2022-23 yr or 5.88 dog-related accidents per 1000 individuals per yr, which is greater than double the nationwide common and far greater than for Whangārei and Kaipara district councils.