EMPTY HOME
I agree with Murray Robertson regarding the rental WOF. My family and I grew up successfully in our perfectly adequate 1970s style brick built home, but without the heating and insulation improvements now demanded.
Changing circumstances dictate that our old home may well be available for rent later this year, but I refuse to spend what I consider unnecessary money and kowtow to this health and safety madness, so a perfectly good home will remain empty until we decide its future.
George Philip
Paihia
LIFT STANDARDS
All dog owners, and councils who look after dogs, must comply with a Code of Welfare that came out in 2010.
This is a code under the Animal Welfare Act (1999), under which people are prosecuted for mistreating animals and/or causing them suffering. That the council has got a formal infringement notice under the Animal Welfare Act is just terrible.
Council should have standards well above the minimum. They are fining people under the Dog Control Act when their dogs get lost and are impounded - and yet, they treat animals below the legal minimum standards in the pound. I want to know that from now on, councillors will watch what is happening to our dogs with an eagle eye.
Leonie Exel
Bay of Islands Watchdogs
DOG NUMBERS
What a shocking indictment of Far North Council policy on impounded dogs. Dean Myburgh’s excuse for the 52 per cent kill rate (that many dogs brought in are not suitable for rehoming) did not explain why no other council in NZ has come within ball-throwing distance of such a figure.
I am also puzzled by Mr Myburgh’s statement that staff intend to rehome more dogs when the greater capacity of the new Okaihau pound is available to them. Surely it would be more logical to rehome more dogs when you have less room for them - i.e. in the present inadequate pound? Jillian Kearney
Opua
TRANSPARENCY CONCERNS
My first worry is about transparency. How do we know what conditions these dogs are being kept in when the public is not allowed to visit? They use the excuse that kennels are built on private land. Part of the arrangement for the kenneling should be that there needs to be an arranged time when public access is available.
My second worry is there is no active rehoming of dogs. Because of this, it follows that there will be large numbers of euthanised animals. Catch 22, if there is no public access, no media for rehoming, then of course the default is euthanasia.
NZ Veterinary Associations Dr Helen Beattie says that wherever possible rehoming of suitable dogs is the preferred option in all instances, irrespective of the dog breed.
My third worry is the worry over professional welfare protocols, including complete and full details of all animals passing through the system and their care, including temperament assessment.
Some justify the deaths saying the dogs are menacing or dangerous. Where is the protocol for assessing dog temperaments and how is this completed?
Jan Graham
Kerikeri
HAVE YOUR SAY
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