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571 days ago

Dogs Under Effective Control -DUEC

Gordon from Halswell

There is a Law that says the CCC has to protect the public from attack or bothering by dogs, in public places.
How they do that is up to individual councils, with local bylaws, the overriding factor is that dogs must be under effective control at all times DUEC and it would appear that the 3 main tools for the council in various areas are are:
1) Dogs Not Allowed at all. - DNA - Wild life reserves etc
2) Dogs allowed off the lead but must be under effective control. - DUEC - Most other large parks
3) Dogs must be on leads at all times. DOL - Parts of some parks like the Quarry.
There is little consistency between the public parks with both rules and signage, which confuses both the general public and dog owners who visit various parks.
Some areas have signs that state DUEC and then another small sign that requests dog owners to keep their dogs on leads. DOL. Certain community-minded people accost dog owners who elect to keep their dogs under control their own way yet still within the law.
So who is right and who is wrong?
The animal control officers can not take any action, if the dog is not breaking any laws and is under effective control.

My suggestion is, the requirement for having to keep your dogs on a lead is dropped from the books, so NDA and DUEC are the only two bylaws.
I hear the shouts and wails, but ask yourself, how many dog owners keep their dogs on leads because the law says they should? I have asked many people this question over the last 18 months and none have said because it was the law. Instead they want to keep their DUEC to protect their dog from road accidents, other dogs or the general public, as they are worried that their dog might bother them. DUEC
The dog owner decides what is the best way for them to keep DUEC and if the dog breaks the law, the owner should be handled the same way as DNOL are currently handled. There is no difference at all.
Summary: If a dog is bothering someone, it is not a DUEC no matter if it is on, or off the lead. So why make a lead compulsory?
This will result in dogs who are actually bothering people being reported and dogs who are not bothering people, on or off the lead, will not be reported.
That will save Animal Control from having to investigate dogs that are not physically doing anything illegal, but a passerby thinks they should be on a lead.
Taking the quarry as an example between 50-80% of people do not keep their dogs on leads in areas that are designated as 'On lead",
The CCC animal control has no major problems with dogs bothering people or other dogs at the quarry, yet most are off leads. That being the case, changing the bylaw to remove the necessity for a lead, will have little or no effect on the way the Quarry is operating, apart from dog owners can not be accosted or reported for having a dog off its lead, unless it is breaking a bothering or attacking law.
The idea is so simple and does away with having different rules for different parks and areas
I would think, I might get the odd comment.

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I'm sure you've got some excess ham at home or cold roast potatoes.

What are some of your favourite ways to use leftover food from Christmas day? Share below.

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16 days ago

⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️

The Team from SPCA New Zealand

It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:

👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️

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C
8 days ago

Greed and townhouses.

Chris from Prebbleton

Any council that allows a new building permit without requiring at least one carpark (if not two) should be charged for pandering to developers and builders greed. A recent report indicating a lot of townhouses are on the market now because owners/occupiers are leaving/selling to move to places with carparks. And anybody with even the smallest degree of intelligence will be well aware of the worldwide hassles with charging EVs where there is/are nowhere to park in an evening while charging. This has been known about for years now. The cure for this is instead of building 6 townhouses you only build 4 or 5. So it boils down to greed and a total lack of planning on behalf of those meant to be doing this sort of stuff for us.