Sideswipe

A PE class on the Macleans College grounds at Bucklands Beach field on Friday.

A reader tells of her ordeal after the family labradoodle (a labrador/ poodle mix) escaped and was subsequently caught by dog control. She writes: "We sensibly had her de-sexed and she is up to date with all her vaccinations. We have a fully fenced, dog-safe property. She is a kind dog who has never bitten any of our four children. Her registration ran out in July and this oversight is my fault completely. We are renovating our home and during all the commotion, a chair was left up against the back fence on Wednesday morning. Molly climbed onto the chair and went over the fence. On Friday, dog control picked her up and to get her back we must pay $40 impound fee, $120 registration fee, $300 fine for her not being registered and $300 fine for her not being contained in our yard. This is $760. We know that rules are rules but surely if a dog has never been 'picked up' or had complaints lodged against it, this must surely have some bearing on the fines."

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No way to treat a volunteer. A reader writes: "I am a volunteer with a high-profile organisation that has recently been given an extra $10 million from the Government. I get called out at all hours of the night and day and enjoy helping the community. I use my own car for travel for which I am reimbursed at 50c/km. (Not very realistic over the past months). I do not receive any other reimbursement for the many hours that I work. I sent in a claim for my travel (all documented with dates and times and case reference numbers). My claim came back less $120 as this organisation will not honour travel claims older than six weeks. This same organisation wonders why it is so hard to get quality committed volunteers."

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An anonymous reader writes: "I and my fellow students at a University of Auckland hostel have been amused at the reaction of the public in Tirau, Rotorua and Auckland, with tales of streakers spotted all up the upper North Island. Mike from Tirau had his conspiracy theory - that it is a rugby team's end-of-season prank, which is not true. Instead, it is the work of a social event of our hostel, known as the 24-hour scavenger hunt. This event promotes friendly fun and much nakedness. We hope that no offence was taken. Thank you to all the friendly people who we talked to over the weekend and the interest shown by the Herald readers."