Dog left with skull full of shrapnel after botched shooting

Bay of Islands SPCA staff have slated those responsible for shooting a dog in the head and leaving it to suffer rather than ensuring it was dead.

A young black male German Shepherd, with no tattoo or microchip, was found on a rural property on Classen Rd near Omanaia, between Kaikohe and Opononi, by residents a week ago who then called authorities.

Bay of Islands SPCA inspector Kaye Vezey said the dog was holding his head to one side and was staggering as he walked. MORE>>

Charges laid over dog-sitting deaths

Wellington SPCA has laid three charges of ill-treatment against a man following the death of two dehydrated dogs shut in a conservatory in March.

The Dominion Post revealed in April that Wellington woman Liz Wilkinson's Chinese crested hairless dog Hazel died while being looked after by a pet-sitter, who also worked as an employee of animal care agency Pet Angels.

Hazel died after being left in a conservatory by the man with several other dogs on March 12.

The pet-sitter told Ms Wilkinson he had fallen asleep for four hours while the dogs were tied to a couch in the conservatory.

Ms Wilkinson's other dog, August, survived but received severe heat stroke in the incident and had to be treated by a veterinarian.The pet-sitter, who lived nearby Ms Wilkinson, had apologised to her and offered to pay for vet and funeral expenses, as well as counselling and a new dog.

Wellington woman Teresa Christianson said her 8-month-old labrador Lyra also died of dehydration while in the pet-sitter's care on the same day.

She had booked his services through Pet Angels.

Someone has to ask someone a few questions.... 

State housing tenants' pets in doghouse

Housing New Zealand tenants could face stricter rules on dog ownership as the agency reviews its policy to cut staff time and costs.

The cost and health and safety risks associated with dogs, as well the difficulty with placing dog owners in state houses has prompted the policy review - which has raised concerns that tenants could be forced to give up their dogs.

Just because you're poor doesn't mean you can't own a dog. Some of these people live alone, and the only company is their companion animal.!

A Housing New Zealand spokesman said the review would address issues such as how much harder it was to find state houses for dog owners, and for them to move to a private rental where often dogs weren't permitted.

Again... it is a shame that dogs have become a nuisance in New Zealand when they give us so much pleasure. 

A policy change could affect up to half of Housing New Zealand's 69,000 properties.
The spokesman said dogs added "significant costs" for taxpayers in terms of staff time and in repairing damage done by dogs.

How much do dogs SAVE the tax payer?  We'll never know because we don't have the research which should be looking at this question.

Housing New Zealand also identified vet bills, clearing flea infestations, dog bites and the stress associated with dog complaints from neighbours or the public as other risks. Hum....

Under the current policy tenants have to get permission from Housing New Zealand to have a dog on the property and the owner must prove it is registered and vaccinated.

and that's how it should stay...

But Hauraki-Waikato MP Nanaia Mahuta said responsible dog owners shouldn't be penalised because of irresponsible dog owners.  Correct.
(...) Royal New Zealand SPCA president Bob Kerridge said a change in the policy could make it even harder than it already was for Housing New Zealand tenants to have dogs.

"What they are doing is depriving families of the enjoyment of having an animal. I think any measures that deprive people of that enjoyment are not to be applauded in any shape or form.
"Unless they were causing a problem I think that would be very unfair."  Here, here Bob
He urged Housing New Zealand to talk to the SPCA about its policy review, and suggested it considered the size and breed of dog when writing the rules.

Read more>>

Noel's drive a big charity boost

When Noel Driver lost his sight completely he did not think he would need a guide dog, but a labrador called Ringo won him over and together they walked the length of the country.

Mr Driver, who worked the switchboard at Wairau Hospital for more than 20 years, died in March aged 61.

Despite losing his sight, Mr Driver raised thousands of dollars for charities in his lifetime, and was a highly social person.

In 2001, he raised more than $350,000 for the Guide Dog Association when he walked the length of the South Island with Ringo and his 10-year-old packhorse, Jack.

The three covered almost 3000km and visited 60 schools along the way.

When he was interviewed by the Press in Oxford on that trip, he was reported as saying he initially thought he was "too macho" to have a dog. MORE>>

New thinking needed on dog rules

Blair Anderson knows dogs. For two decades the dog behaviourist says he's taught thousands of owners how to train their pets.

 He knows that some people are afraid of dogs and wasn't surprised when he read in The Aucklander about a call to have dogs kept on leashes at West Auckland's Kakamatua Beach. Disappointed, but not surprised. "Dogs carry their weapons with them and this can induce fears where there should be none," he says.

 "What we need to see is the good in dogs. There are about 600,000 dogs in New Zealand. Not one dog has bitten anybody today." What frustrates him is that he considers the Auckland Council, like many local authorities, is formulating a policy based on fear and myth and not good research and science.

The council is replacing seven policies and bylaws from previous local bodies with a single bylaw to provide a consistent approach. "Auckland is wrong to be proceeding with a super-dog rule when there is no scientific basis that keeping dogs behind high fences and on leashes is what is good for them," Mr Anderson says.
MORE>>

The New Zealand International Film Festival is including a record number of nine local documentaries in its 2012 programme.

That includes veteran local documentarian Costa Botes' Last Dogs of Winter which follows New Zealander and former TV actor Caleb Ross to Churchill ("the Polar Bear Capital of the World") in the Canadian province of Manitoba, where he helped local character Brian Ladoon in his unconventional conservation efforts with the Qimmiq, Canada's endangered indigenous Eskimo dog. MORE>>

Rural Women NZ: Sled-dog gear venture

Rose Voice has won the supreme national award for enterprising rural women. She was honoured with this year's Enterprising Rural Women Award for her business, The Real Dog Equipment Company.

"The Real Dog Equipment Company is an example of what can be achieved when you have a passion and are willing to follow your dreams," said Rural Women New Zealand (RWNZ) national president Liz Evans.

Voice set out by making harnesses and collars for her sled-racing dogs. This has grown into a business producing quality animal equipment designed by Voice, and manufactured by her and her husband at the company's purpose-built premises near Ranfurly. MORE>>

Second HNZ tenant faces eviction over dog

A second Auckland woman has been told to remove her dog from her Housing New Zealand property despite having lived in the home for three years with four cats and a dog.

Ranui resident Linda Tozer has been told she must get rid of her dog Star or face eviction.

The news comes after Manurewa resident Nga Behekite, who has lived with a dog in the same state home for 13 years, was told she would be evicted if her dog Spiky was not removed from the premises because she had never sought permission to have a pet.

Behekite has had to find the dog a temporary home while she continues to fight HNZ.

Tozer was first ordered to remove Star in December last year.

"I couldn't do it, I don't have the heart to. Star is my baby,'' she said.  MORE>>

This is another Human Rights Issue. Your dog is part of the family, and that's that. The government policy doesn't take into account the social benefit from owning a companion animal.