Dog law bites man

A man trying to do his sister-in-law a good turn by looking after her dog has been slapped with fines totalling $1250 by the Auckland City Council.

To add insult to injury Tony Adams says he wasn't even in Auckland when one of the offences is alleged to have happened.

The Mangere man offered to look after his sister-in-law's dog at his former partner's home in Otahuhu over a weekend in February.

Now he's facing a $300 fine for keeping an unregistered dog, $200 for failing to control a dog and $750 for wilful obstruction of a dog officer.

This is exactly how bullies act. You get a law that says that dog pounders have more rights and enforcement, and you get this circumstance.

The dog, Wairua, was bought in Rotorua and was staying at the house on February 11 while Mr Adams' relatives were away helping friends.

Wairua wasn't yet registered because he had only been in Otahuhu for two days. He was registered with the Manukau City Council the next day, February 12.

The staffordshire-bull mastiff cross had also been microchipped and neutered because the owners did not want him wandering.

When animal control officers visited the property on February 11 one officer allegedly put a rope around the dog's neck and tried to pull him over the fence. Yup, i can accept this as fact as they tried to do the same thing with our dog. Thankfully our neighbour witnessed the whole thing!

(read the in-between bits...)

"They're using Gestapo tactics. It's unfair - you try to do right but get punished for it."

He was shocked by the fines, especially when he saw one was dated January 15 - when neither he nor Wairua were in Auckland. The dog was still in Rotorua then while Mr Adams was in Cable Bay, Northland, and has a bank statement to prove it.

The council says the dog control officers who visited the Otahuhu property in February were responding to a complaint received on January 15 about a dog that jumped the fence and attacked another being walked by its owner.

Council animal control contract manager Clare Connell says it could be another dog that looks similar to Wairua because the person who laid the January compliant described the dog as a bull mastiff.

Can you believe that !! they fine a dog owner without PROOF! This is insane!

(...)

"I hope the council own up and admit they're wrong. Hopefully things will change for dog owners who are trying to do the right thing."

Ya right~

Wairua now lives happily with his owners in Mangere and Mr Adams regularly takes him for runs.