Celebrating our relationship with Japan
Last week Mayor John Leggett met with Japanese Ambassador Hiroyasu Kobayashi to celebrate three decades of sister city relationships with Japan.
In 1989, the Council established a sister city agreement with Tendo, followed by Otari two years later.
The first sister city relationship began with Marlborough’s cherry export industry. Two years later our relationship with Otari Village in Nagano Prefecture was sparked through friendships made in the Outward Bound movement.
Over 500 Marlborough students have visited Japan as part of the sister city relationship.
Each year Council supports four local students to visit Tendo or Otari, and in turn, hosts four students from each city here.
Caption: Left to right: Councillor Gerald Hope, former Mayor Alistair Sowman, former councillor Graeme Barsanti, Ambassador Kobayashi and Mayor John Leggett
What word sums up 2024, neighbours?
If 2020 was the year of lockdowns, banana bread, and WFH (work from home)....
In one word, how would you define 2024?
We're excited to see what you come up with!
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
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 ❤️