Super-council, dangerous dogs on Hide's agenda
A Southland super-council and the controversial proposal to put violent dogs down on the spot will be high on the agenda when Local Government minister Rodney Hide visits the region on June 16.
Mr Hide was to be Invercargill to meet councils Wednesday but was forced to cancel because of other commitments.
Yesterday, Mr Hide said it was a shame he had to postpone the trip but was looking forward to getting down south soon.
The proposed dog law would definitely be discussed as it was an issue that needed immediate attention, he said. "Very keen on that, we're certainly going to look at that because it's a serious problem."
Invercargill City Council manager William Watt, who has pushed for a law change to allow dog control officers to immediately destroy dogs that attacked people, said he was encouraged by the minister's comments. It was important animals were treated humanely but public reaction both locally and across the country showed most people agreed with the idea, he said. MORE>>
Of course it's a serious issue... the city can't protect the public because it doesn't know how to make their dog pound secure!!
1 Comments:
At 3:33 p.m.,
Blair Anderson said…
>showed most people agreed with the idea.
When ever I read that comment I see "agenda!". I can catagorically state that MOST DOG POUNDS IN NEW ZEALAND have DOG CONTROL OFFICERS who disagree with this position. However, neither the Southland Times, nor other media reporting Mr Watts (personal, even if appearing populist) views is prepared to state that there are strong countervieling (and qualified) views on the Invercargill situation.
After two dogs met at Sandy Point (and had a bit of a bun fight), it is disengenuous to suggest that 'dogs are the problem' when Sandy Point regional park is actually bigger than some towns, you could fit Oamaru in it... and that 'walking on lead' should be mandatory at all times. This is patently ridiculous and pretends in so doing to treat otherwise good owners as idiots.
That the honourable Mr Hide has bought into this is an appalling indictment on what a politician will do for a 'populist vote' - another one of his inadequate consultations....
Mr Watt would no doubt applaud legislation brought under urgency absent informed debate and shortcutting 'consultation'.
Argument for the Deaad Dog By-Law: It is so much more efficient to arbitarily kill dogs when ya cant keep them safe or at all!
The damn Ingill City Council should have to answer to there incompetance.
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