About 40 individuals, many with dogs, had been protesting in opposition to the Far North District Council’s canine management system in Kaikohe on Thursday. Photo / Mike Dinsdale
Far North Mayor Moko Tepania has promised these protesting that the council’s canine management system just isn’t match for objective that he has heard their considerations and can work to make the system higher.
About 40 individuals, many with dogs, protested exterior 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 objective, 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 best way the FNDC ran its animal management. Both made displays to the next council assembly, to stipulate their considerations to councillors.
While they had been exterior 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.
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He informed 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 stated.
Tepania stated he had a canine within the whānau and understood how a lot they meant to individuals.
He stated 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.
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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 scenario round.
He stated there had been two deadly canine assaults within the area previously 18 months or so and he didn’t wish to see that occur once more, and schooling on good pet possession was essential.
Johnson informed the councillors that her animal rescue group and others within the Far North saved the council plenty of work and assets, however that they had no workers and little funding.
She stated previously 12 months the FNDC kilos had taken in 517 dogs, however her group had rehomed 969 in the identical time. As effectively, the Donna Doolittle Animal Rescue centre in Kaitāia had rehomed a whole lot extra.
Johnson stated this took among 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 probably have been put down.
She stated the FNDC had the very best canine euthanisation fee within the nation – 21 of the 28 dogs within the Kaitāia pound had been killed in September this 12 months – and the council needed to put extra money and assets into staffing the canine administration crew, desexing, schooling for canine house owners and prosecuting dangerous canine house owners whose animal attacked or regularly roamed.
Excel stated she was inspired by the mayor’s response to their considerations, however would solely imagine 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 stated.
The Far North has the very best fee of dog-related accidents within the nation. Dog-related accidents had cost New Zealand $15.8 million within the 12 months to June 30, ACC figures reveal – an a rise of almost 50 % from 5 years earlier.
The Far North District leads the best way in relation to canine assaults, with 427 ACC claims within the 2022-23 12 months or 5.88 dog-related accidents per 1000 individuals per 12 months, which is greater than double the nationwide common and far increased than for Whangārei and Kaipara district councils.