Entitled to explanation

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Opinion

The matter of a dog being wrongly put down cannot be simply swept under the carpet by a settlement between the district council and the dog’s owners.

Irrespective of whether the enormous publicity of this incident was out of all proportion, the public is entitled to have a proper and accurate explanation as to what exactly happened.

No “settlement” can be allowed to bury the following questions:

Was the dog found outside the property or not?

Did the “arresting” staff member attempt to return it to the property and owners, only to find them absent?

Is it right that the staff member who put the dog down has been vilified and had to resign, thus losing their job and making their family suffer as well?

Was there a monetary payment involved in the settlement? The ratepayer is entitled to know this, if not the exact sum.

I look forward to the council providing satisfactory answers.

It would seem to me that nothing good has come out of this — just upset and loss and a lot of unnecessary comment.

Roger Handford