Health, safety behind pound move: Council

Malcolm Hart. Photo / Glenn Taylor

Conditions for public access at the Hastings pound have been changed to bring them into line with practice at the Napier City Council pound.

Responding to claims a new pound manager had banned the public from viewing dogs at the pound, Hastings District Council acting group manager planning and regulatory Malcom Hart said "some minor adjustments" had been made relating to how the dogs were viewed.

Claims had been made by Hastings woman Jessica Maxwell, representing a new group calling itself Watchdog!

Mr Hart said: "Members of the public are are free to visit the pound during normal hours to view dogs they may wish to re-home.

"Officers will bring out only those dogs deemed suitable for re-homing, and these dogs will be presented in an area suitable for this purpose."

He said barring people from entering the kennel area was "due largely to health and safety reasons," and would ensure Hastings practice "mirrors" the Napier pound's.

Meanwhile, a former chief executive of an Auckland council has been named as an "independent" alongside acting Hastings CEO John O'Shaughnessy to handle a report on a review of the council's animal-control service by independent consultant and ex-Tauranga council environmental-compliance manager John Payne.

The independent officer will take a "governance role" and the appointment is to ensure the community has confidence in the report, which Mayor Lawrence Yule expects to be presented to the council by November.