A safer city and fairer fees for responsible dog owners are the goals of proposed changes to Porirua City’s dog control bylaw.

In recent years, the Council has seen an increase in serious dog attacks causing injury to people, says Porirua Mayor Anita Baker. To address this, and to make things fairer for all, changes are being proposed to the city’s dog control bylaw to:

• change the dog owner categories from responsible dog owner to selected owner category
• revise dog registration fees
• clarify rules for dog control areas, and
• introduce mandatory neutering for dogs classified as menacing.

"Consultation on the changes will run from 18 January to 21 February and we encourage dog owners to have their say," Mayor Baker says.

One aspect of the consultation is around fees, which we want to make more fair for responsible dog owners and the non-dog owning ratepayers, says James Single, Manager Monitoring and Compliance.

"At the moment about 56 percent of costs associated with dog control are recovered through registration and enforcement fees," he says.

"We want to change this to make the allocation of costs fairer for responsible dog owners and residents who don’t own dogs.

"The change we’re proposing will place more costs where monitoring, compliance, and enforcement efforts are needed, and reduce costs for selected owners, working dogs, and for ratepayers."

For more information see www.poriruacity.govt.nz/dogpolicy or pick up a copy of the proposal from any Porirua library or the Council front counter. Alternatively you give us a call on 04 237 5089 to have a copy sent to you or find out how to give your feedback.

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