Dog control officers' actions staunchly defended

Wanganui District Council PHOTO/FILE

Wanganui's dog control officers have been staunchly defended by district councillors and senior management.

The debate, at Tuesday's meeting of the council's operations and reporting committee, was sparked by a report in the Wanganui Chronicle (August 15) that one dog ranger was so concerned for his safety that he did not respond to a dog attack complaint at a Castlecliff address.

His actions were later confirmed by Jonathan Barrett, council's deputy strategy and development manager.

But Mr Barrett told the committee that reports that an officer was scared of dogs "is manifestly untrue".

"You're talking about officers, on their own, having to enter premises that themselves are known to be hazardous," he said.

He said the reports had "wilfully" blurred the lines around the work the officers were doing.

He said the officers worked with Whanganui Police when the occasion warranted but people needed to be aware that police resources were stretched.

Mr Barrett said it was always possible for council to do more and the processes would be part of a special council workshop to discuss topical issues on dog control.

"There is a clear need to review how we deal with roaming dogs and unregistered dogs. There is obviously a lot of debate to be had and the level of rigour in what policy council comes up with," he said.

Asked about what protection the officers had with them he said that it included pepper spray and bite sticks. He said on occasions they could access firearms.

Council chief executive Kevin Ross said animal control officers were dealing with wandering dogs on a daily basis.

"We're trying to front-foot this issue as much as we can," Mr Ross told the committee.

He said the health and safety of any council employee was his responsibility "and I'm not prepared to put any officer at risk".

"But these are one-off issues we're dealing with throughout the year."

Asked what management thought was a reasonable response time by the dog control staff, Mr Ross said it came down to where the officer was working.

"We are trying to provide a 24/7 service so we cannot say in every instance we'll respond in 10 to 15 minutes from getting a call. That just cannot work with the resources we have at the moment," he said.

Councillor Philippa Baker-Hogan said she noted the Chronicle stories "and at the moment it's a beat-up on the council which may or may not be warranted".

Mayor Annette Main said the council was not walking away from this debate but said the situation was not helped by "negative stories on the front page of the paper either".

"We are looking at what we're doing to see if we're providing the level of service that's required," Ms Main said.

Editor's note: The story in the Chronicle was about an officer fearing people at the house, not dogs.