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...