North Shore Times (New Zealand)
Dog owners hold fiery meeting
Tempers flared at Takapuna Beach as more than 50 residents met for a public debate over dog rights on the beach.
The Friday, February 3, public meeting was organised by broadcaster Leanne Malcolm and New Zealand record producer Paul Ellis, who are both Takapuna residents and dog owners.
The meeting was in response to a North Shore Times article, reporting a group of residents was pushing Auckland Council to have more officers policing unruly dogs on Takapuna Beach.
‘‘These residents have caused a bit of a stir in the paper over the last few weeks talking about a potential dog ban on Takapuna Beach and saying the beach is out of control now,’’ Malcolm said.
‘‘So obviously it’s caused a lot of anger and discussion within the community and I just felt it seemed a little bit one-sided.
‘‘I wanted to get a bunch of dog owners together, after meeting some people on the beach last week and they were saying they were pretty angry that they hadn’t had a voice.’’
Despite the 45-minute heated debate, practically all residents agreed there needed to be more council dog officers policing Takapuna Beach.
One man said to DevonportTakapuna Local Board member George Wood: ‘‘I’ve never seen one [dog officer] and I’ve been here for 50 years, you’re living in denial, just deal with the reality.’’
However, in contradiction to this, Auckland Council general manager of licensing and compliance services Grant Barnes said council officers patrol Takapuna Beach ‘‘on a daily basis’’.
‘‘We have done so as a matter of routine over the summer months. They are dressed in uniform that clearly identifies them as an animal management officer,’’ Barnes said.
One elderly woman shared her experience of being injured by a dog on Takapuna Beach.
‘‘I never saw the dog because it came behind me, took the legs out from under me. I ended up with a concussion, headaches for over a year and whiplash, now I’m 80.’’
Also at issue was whether the current prohibition of dogs on Takapuna Beach from 10am to 6pm, should instead start at 8am.
An online poll on social network site Neighbourly.co.nz with over 200 votes had 78 per cent of people wanting the dog hours on Takapuna Beach to remain a 10am cut-off, and 22 per cent desiring a reduction to 8am.