Canine buddies to fore in fun run

The coastal walkway will be teeming with joggers, walkers and runners on Sunday but it's guide dogs who will be leading the charge.

This year's 37th annual Port to Park fun run and walk is raising money for the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind, its members and their canine friends will be out in force to support. Long-time foundation member Aleister O'Donnell and his guide dog, Baye, will be among the crowd on Sunday but will have to join the race at the halfway point because Baye is suffering from a dodgy knee.

"I don't think he will last the distance and I don't want to make his injury even worse," Mr O'Donnell said. Baye twisted his knee chasing oranges and lemons last weekend but is on the mend.

Pet abuse in violent homes probed

A dog decapitated in front of children, a litter of kittens hurled against a wall and a cat held in the air while its legs were broken one by one are Christchurch examples of the link between pet abuse and family violence.

Women's refuge centres across the city compiled examples of the correlation between animal cruelty and family violence after a study released last month that investigated the issue in New Zealand for the first time.

The Pets as Pawns study was a Women's Refuge-SPCA project that showed violence towards animals was often used as a way for abusive men to maintain control over their families.
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Dog walker shot in Burwood

Police are confident they know who fired an air rifle at a woman as she was walking her dog in northeastern Christchurch. Detective Senior Sergeant Tony Hill said a woman, 46, was walking her dog in Parnwell St in Burwood when she heard a "crack" about 5pm yesterday. "

She had a pain in her arm and found she had a hole in her arm," he said. The woman, who lives in the neighbourhood, sought help from a nearby chemist, who rang an ambulance.

She was taken to Christchurch Hospital, where an X-ray revealed a "projectile" in her right forearm. It is understood doctors have decided to leave the "projectile" in her arm.
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Pets at risk as rental scarcity hits home

Pets are being put down, abandoned or surrendered as their owners try to compete for scarce rental accommodation in Christchurch.

Swamped animal shelters are pleading for tolerance for pet owners as the city's rental crisis deepens, allowing landlords to favour some tenants over others.

SPCA Canterbury general manager Barry Helem said staff were fielding about 10 calls a day from desperate owners needing to surrender their animals before finding rental accommodation.

"Pet-friendly properties are in short supply, so we are appealing to landlords to show some flexibility towards Canterbury pet owners needing accommodation," he said.

"What we are now seeing is an increase in responsible pet owners who have had to leave their earthquake-damaged homes and do not want to give up their pet but are running out of options."
The SPCA is already at capacity with sick, injured and abused animals.
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Dog shooting 'beggared belief' - police officer

A police officer who went to the scene of a mass dog shooting has told a court he found the owner of 33 shot dogs nursing a puppy that had survived.

 Russell Mendoza and Tony Campbell are on trial in Auckland District Court, accused of a "commando exercise'' in which 33 of Rowan Hargreaves dogs were shot dead on a rural property near Wellsford in January, 2010.

 The pair have denied four charges of wilfully ill-treating an animal and firearms charges. MORE>>

Perano finishes Iditarod

A man who went to high school in Picton has become the first New Zealander to complete the Iditarod, a gruelling dog sled race across Alaska billed as the last great race on earth.

 Curt Perano spent his final year of high school at Queen Charlotte College in Picton after living in Singapore and various European countries following his father's work in the oil industry.

 His father, Alan Perano, a former whaler, lives in Port Underwood. Having no internet connection, he needed the help of a neighbour who accessed the race website to learn of his son's success on March 16.

 Curt and his dogs were the third New Zealand team to start the race in 40 years, but the first to finish it. They took 11 days, 22 hours, 40 minutes and 45 seconds to run the 1609.3km (1000 miles). MORE>>

Death row dog saved by court

A West Auckland man has won a legal battle to save the life of his beloved dog.

 Christoph Neubusch appeared in the Waitakere District Court for sentencing yesterday, after pleading guilty in February to owning a dog that attacked a man.

 Neubusch's boxer-cross, Chips, bit a man who was at his Henderson home picking up some goods he had bought from Neubusch on Trade Me. At yesterday's hearing, Neubusch faced a maximum $3000 fine and the possibility the court would order Chips be destroyed.

 (...) 

 Both the Auckland Council prosecutor and Judge John Adams accepted Neubusch's lawyer Scott Leith's arguments that there were special circumstances in Chips' case.

 The judge said the complainant had not given Neubusch much notice before turning up to pick up a table. And instead of going to Neubusch's front door, he went around the back where Chips and his mother Fish were kept.

"Then he unwisely kicked the mother dog - unsurprisingly, the young dog bit him," Judge Adams said.

 The judge told Neubusch he had acted "impeccably" in apologising to the man and dressing his wound, which later required ten stitches.

 "Your criminality is pretty low in this matter but nonetheless your dog bit this chap and there are consequences."

Judge Adams ordered Neubusch to pay the complainant $850 for emotional harm.

I think the man should pay the dog for emotional and physical harm!

Kiwis spend a fortune on pets

Kiwis fork out $1.6 billion a year on their pooches, moggies and assorted pets – and not just for Champ and Whiskas and the odd flea treatment.

More than ever pets are part of the family, with caring owners increasingly shelling out for "human" products and services, such as insurance, deli treats, day care, a new duffel coat for winter, and a haircut and blow dry every six weeks.

It seems being in the doghouse never looked so good.

These school holidays cat and dog owners heading out of town will call on pet feeding services which can cost $8 to $17 a meal, or drop their four-legged friends off at catteries and kennels, which, depending on location and luxury levels, can cost between $14 and $50 a day. MORE>>

So if New Zealanders spend so much money on their pets, why aren't they allowed in the cities, restaurants, buses, trains of this country!

Comedy Festival launches first Dog Show

Dog owners, polish your pooper-scoopers; the International Comedy Festival is branching out into the animal kingdom tomorrow, hosting a canine-centred comedy event on Auckland’s waterfront.
The free event is the festival’s first Dog Show, and will include performances from a host of local comedians, as well as a screening of mockumentary Best In Show.

Categories in the dog show will include Best Costume, Special Talent and the people’s choice category of Hot Dog/Best in Show, as voted by the public.

There will be food stalls on site for the famished and craft and market stalls for those wanting to take home a souvenir of the day, as well as DJs from George FM setting the soundtrack for the afternoon.

The event kicks off at 2pm at Silo Park, with the dog show starting at 4pm and the movie screening at 6.30.

For more information, visit the website

A dog's life in Picton

The owners of Seamus's Traditional Irish Nook in Picton want dogs to remain a prominent and welcome feature of the town centre.

And as owners of an 83.7kg Irish wolfhound, they have a substantial point.

Liz and Alastair Hawthorne were speaking on the first day of a hearing of submissions into the Marlborough District Council dog control policy and bylaw review, in the council chambers yesterday.

The council is listening to views about whether to change access for dogs in public places around Marlborough and licence requirements for owners with more than two dogs. More than 300 submissions were received.

The couple regularly took their 3-year-old dog Fionbhar for walks around the Picton waterfront, and stopped for a morning coffee with their dog in tow. Cafes in Picton were dog-friendly, and it was not uncommon to see a dog sitting quietly under a table next to their owners while they had coffee.

This was good in a town that hosted several visitors who brought dogs on holiday with them, they said.

Passengers off the ferry would often ask where they could eat a meal and take their dogs with them, Mrs Hawthorne said.

Auckland was one of the most dog-friendly places she had ever been, she said. Dogs were allowed in several "posh" outdoor eating areas in Ponsonby and many other dining places throughout Auckland.  MORE>>

And excellent time to make our cities dog-friendly... like they do around the world! In Mumbai, dogs are everywhere, albeit they ARE street dogs :) But that's another discussion... 

Wife watches as husband drowns in dog rescue

The wife of an Auckland man who drowned in a lake while trying to retrieve his dog from the water watched in horror as bystanders tried desperately to save him.

Peter Lewis, 59, died late on Saturday afternoon following what his family say was a tragic accident. Mr Lewis and his wife, Ruth, had been walking their dog on Colonial Rd, near the Chelsea Sugar Refinery in Birkenhead, when their pet began chasing some birds.  MORE>>

Bringing your dog to work can ease stress, study finds

Virginia Commonwealth University researchers studied workers at a company that allows pets in the office and found it has benefits.

If your office seems like it's going to the dogs, try bringing your dogs to the office.

Researchers reported Friday that bringing Rover to work seems to reduce stress on the job.

"Pet presence potentially can be a low-cost wellness intervention," said Randolph Barker, a professor of management at Virginia Commonwealth University's business school in Richmond, Va., who led the study in the International Journal of Workplace Health Management.
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