All to pay half dog control costs

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 12, Issue 564, 29 November 1994, Page 6

All to pay half dog control costs

Half the cost of dog control in the Ruapehu District is to be paid for from the general rate, with the balance coming from dog registration fees. That was the decision of the Ruapehu District Council at their meeting last Friday. There was much discussion on the philosophy behind the funding policy, with councillors split over who should pick up the tab for control work. Some felt non-dog o wners should not have to pay for the control of dogs; some felt to make good dog owners pay the whole cost of dog control through their registration fees was unfair in that dogs that caused problems were usually unregistered; some felt that working dog owners were already hard-done-by in that they received very little for their registration fee. "If there were no dog owners there would be no need for dog control," said Cr Cosford. He suggested the couricil let the matter lay on the table while they considered a payment system that encouraged dog owners to be responsible. He said this would lead to lower costs for the council. He suggested a bigger difference in selected owner registration, so that there would be a strong incentive for people to control their dogs. Cr Eddie Turley said the council should first evaluate the cost efficiency of the present system. There was some discussion on whether it was possible to charge a working-dog registration fee and a "recreational" dog fee, recognising that working dogs were rarely a problem for dog rangers. Dog ranger Stan Dillieu told the meeting that the council' s registration system could differentiate by way of urban/rural addresses on the register. He said they already have a selected owner system where if a property is fenced and the rangers haven't had a problem within the previous 1 2months, the registration cost for that dog is$l 1 cheaper. Council chief executive Cliff Houston said the system was not user-pays. "Most dog owner' s dogs are not impounded and therefore they don't 'use' the service," he said. A lot of owners whose dogs were impounded did not claim them but "just went out and got another puppy", he said. Mr Houston said if the registration fees were too high a lot more people would not register their dogs. Cr Ellen Gould said the issue was one of health and safety as well, and that all people, especially children, needed to be educated about how to deal with dogs, even if they never owned one. Councillors were told the education costs of dog registration amounted to about $19,000. Cr Bob Peck questioned the logic of accepting that dog owners would not pay more to register their dogs and then charge people who have never owned a dog, through their general rates. When put to the vote, seven were for the motion (50 per cent funded from the general rate) and four were against. Crs Cosford, Shaw, Compton and Peck voted against it.