Dannevirke: Revolt brewing over rural dog registration fees

Tim Delaney is the president of the Chow Chow club of New Zealand and the Ruahine Kennel Association.

Members of the Dannevirke's Ruahine Kennel Association want the Tararua District Council to reconsider their proposed changes in dog registration fees as they believe they're unfair and penalising responsible owners.

Tim Delaney, the president of the kennel association, said his group was putting a submission to council as part of the long term plan consultation process because the proposed elimination of the rural domestic dog category will mean an increase in fees of $40 for each canine currently in that category.

Mr Delaney had previously told the Dannevirke News the council was "barking up the wrong tree" when it came to the rationale behind setting the new registration fees and figures he's now obtained from the council confirm this.

"Those currently with dogs registered as urban, will enjoy a decrease of $13 a dog, while those with dogs registered as working, will face an extra $5 for each dog, along with that huge increase of $40 for those previously classed as rural domestic dog," he said.

"This is manifestly unfair because the burden of animal control is being placed on those who are, in the main, not responsible for the complaints which lead to the need for the current level of control. With the exception of barking dogs, complaints from the rural North and South wards represented just 19 per cent of the total complaints, while complaints from the urban areas was 81 per cent."

However, Mr Delaney did concede that the Tararua District Council dog registration fees are among the lowest in the country and in keeping with dog registration fees in other primarily rural jurisdictions - particularly those in the lower North Island.

"But just because they're amongst the lowest doesn't justify raising the fees," he said. "Any fee structure must correspond to the cost of canine-related animal control."

And Mr Delaney said a quick poll on the council's website, asking, 'Do you support the rise in dog fees in order to get wandering and dangerous dogs off our streets?', was misleading.

"I wrote to Mayor Roly Ellis saying of course the majority would answer yes and so they should," he said. "But I pointed out this issue wasn't whether or not there should be a rise in registration fees, but whether rural owners of non-working dogs should have an almost 300 per cent increase in their fees, while urban dog owners had a 15 per reduction. This council is looking to raise fees for those who don't have dangerous or roaming dogs and lowering them for owners who do."

Mr Delaney was directed to Raj Suppiah, the council's chief financial officer who is heading the long term plan process. Currently Mr Suppiah is overseas and unable to be contacted by the Dannevirke News.

Meanwhile, a Dannevirke dog owner living on a lifestyle block has told the Dannevirke News she's "p***ed off," by the proposal to up the fees for rural domestic dogs.

"We're basically going to be paying extra to cover the cost of irresponsible owners in urban areas," the woman, who didn't want to be named, said.

The public consultationruns from Monday, April 6, to Friday, May 8 and the submissions hearings will be held on Tuesday, May 19. The Tararua District Council will meet on Wednesday, May 27 to determine the submission outcomes and on Wednesday, June 24 the council will adopt its 10 year plan and set rates.

Canine facts:

Dogs registered in the Tararua:

* Urban - 959
* Rural domestic dogs - 1872
* Working dogs - 3523

Animal control facts:

* Registered rural domestic dogs impounded - 24
* Registered working dogs impounded - 26
* Registered urban dogs impounded - 155
* Unregistered, roaming dogs impounded - 214
* Number of customer complaints from rural areas - 269 - complaints from rural areas include 208 barking dogs in the North ward and 3 barking dogs in the whole of the South ward. This anomaly could be because a large number of complaints in the North ward were related to a barking dog problem at Matamau.
* Customer complaints from urban areas - 41
* Owners registered with preferred dog status - 348

- Source: Tararua District Council