It's a dog's life and he's worth every last cent of it

Council dog registration fees are a small price to pay when you own an escape-artist jack russell, writes DEBBIE ROOME.

Nelson was one of our first purchases on arriving in Christchurch: an adorable jack russell puppy to soothe the pain of leaving three dogs and a cat in South Africa.

Our first shock was discovering what mutts cost in New Zealand. Four-hundred dollars for a dog? And that was a cheap one? We only paid $50 for our jack russell back home. The second shock was the cost of registering him with the city council.

"Eighty dollars." We moaned: "whatever for?"

Nelson's puppy-hood passed peacefully enough, but when he reached 18 months, he hit doggy adolescence and his brain overdosed on testosterone. His new mission in life was to break out of home and go looking for company.

He started off small – unauthorised walks to the cemetery, a visit to the neighbour's dog, a jaunt up to the local shops. We patched the fence and warned our five adolescents to shut the front door behind them. We didn't realise that worse was to come.

He quickly mastered the art of escaping. A regular Houdini. As a visitor walked in, he would sneak out. He broke through the wall of the wood shed, he squeezed through gaps in the fence, he seized every opportunity to flee.

As he grew bolder, the phone calls started. One day he came home minus his collar and tag. It later appeared in our letterbox, courtesy of the council.

(...)

"I've got your dog in my van. He was lost on Burnside Crescent." I'd forgotten he was micro-chipped. What a relief. I arranged to drive down to New World on Memorial Avenue to retrieve him. Mr Animal Control was a big burly man who was not impressed with me or my renegade hound.

And $300 later... I would imagine. All these lovely stories, but the Council nabs you in the pocket!

(...)

A week later, just as my nerves were starting to settle, his new collar and tag disappeared. Again we searched the house and garden, and again we found nothing. I asked my husband very nicely if he would pop into the council service centre at Fendalton Library and get another tag for Nelson while I went to the pet shop to get a collar. He came back rather disgruntled.

"That was embarrassing. The lady wanted to know how we could lose two dog tags in the space of one week."

"That," I replied, "is why I sent you."

I would like to say that I have changed my attitude about paying the council $80 a year. The service they provide is amazing and I am truly grateful to them. We are fortunate to have a system in place that works and works well. The residents of Burnside who have baby-sat my dog, animal control and the council staff in Fendalton have done a great job in keeping Nelson safe.

What?? no dog fine !! Let me move to Nelson!

Oh, and if anyone in north- west Christchurch should ever see a lone jack russell with a curly tail and a brown spot on his shoulder, wandering down the street without a care in the world – he's probably mine.

Read the whole story.. real cute.