Town over-run with wandering horses
A small Bay of Plenty town has become over-run with wandering horses who have taken up munching grass verges outside people’s suburban homes.
Close to 100 horses are now believed to be roaming the coastal town of O¯ po¯tiki, causing safety concerns for both people and horses.
The O¯ po¯ tiki District Council’s planning and regulatory group manager, Gerard McCormack, said that while there had always been some wandering horses in town, there had been a noticeable increase since the Covid-19 lockdown finished. ‘‘The number of complaints has increased fourfold since Covid restrictions eased.’’
The council was considering adding a permit or licensing arrangement to its reserve management plan, which was under review. ‘‘They would have to register the horses and . . . photograph all the horses. And if they’re not in our system effectively they don’t have permission to have them on council land,’’ McCormack said.
Resident Amber Rakuraku said addressing the issue was well overdue.
‘‘It’s been a problem since before lockdown but, more recently since the lockdown was lifted, it just seems to have got far worse. It went from a couple of stray horses every other week to packs of stray horses every other day.’’
A lot of the horses were located close to the river stopbank, which is near the state highway.
Rakuraku said it wasn’t just the council that needed to take action – horse owners also needed to take care of their animals.
‘‘It is important to try to find a way to manage the situation rather than dragging animals off to pounds and putting the costs onto owners who can’t afford it.’’