Generosity saves park
CATHERINE GROENESTEIN
A South Taranaki couple who set up a private dog park to help people with pets that need space were looking at taking out a loan for a bigger fence, but generosity from their community saved the day.
John and Tania Gecse, who live at Manaia, opened Lone Wolf Pastures a few weeks ago to give people with reactive dogs a secure space where they can run and play.
Reactive dogs can be aggressive to dogs and people they don’t know, which makes them tricky to exercise in public spaces.
The dog park is incredibly popular, with weekends booked solid and some people driving from Waitara and Stratford, as well as around South Taranaki.
It has jumps, tunnels, cable reels and a flying fox, along with a paddling pool, dog toys, a bath and a trough for the dogs to swim in.
Tania Gecse said they needed a tall fence around the paddock because one small dog had managed to wriggle through the standard farm fencing.
A Givealittle page they set up was unsuccessful, and they charge only $2 for a session at the pastures (the money goes towards mowing and other maintenance costs), so a weekend’s takings are usually about $30.
But after a story about their venture ran in the Taranaki Daily News and South Taranaki Star, fencing contractor Clayton Robinson got in touch and offered to do the work for nothing.
‘‘We had got three quotes of $13,000, $6000 and the cheapest, $3200, then Clayton quoted us zero – he said they would do it for the community,’’ she said. ‘‘It went from there, it was amazing. They’re very, very humble people, and they were perfectionists, checking and rechecking.’’
Robinson teamed up with another local fencing contractor, Zeus Crawford Fencing and Maintenance Ltd, and they finished building the fence a few days ago.
‘‘Now, not even a chihuahua will be able to get through the fence,’’ she said.
The Gecses provided most of the materials, and the two businesses provided the labour and expertise.
Zeus Crawford said he had worked with the crew from Robinson Contracting in the past, and had experience of building deer fences. ‘‘Clayton front-footed it, it was one of those things where we just thought, it’s in our community, let’s do something to help out,’’ he said.