Dog law in Taupo may be tightened

Taupo Times, Volume 23, Issue 51, 27 June 1974, Page 3

Dog law in Taupo may be tightened

Alterations to dog registration and control by-laws are being considered by the Taupo Borough Council. The matter is to be discussed with the council' s solicitor and with the Taupo Hydatids Control Authority before being resubmitted for consideration by the council. Earlier this month Mr A. L. Dalton asked the general purposes committee to consider imposing more stringent control measures on dogs in public places. He proposed that all dogs at large should be under the control of leash or under immediate command. Dogs should also be ban-

ned from specific area, particularly the lakefront, and a much bigger registration fee be set for unspeyed canine bitches in an effort to reduce the problems associated with uncontrolled breeding. The committee also discussed the question of the number of dogs to be permitted on any one property in the towri. At a meeting of the council in May last year, an amendment was made to the existing by-law deleting the provision for a dog owner to apply to keep more than two dogs on a property of less than half an acre. This was substituted by a blanket limitation of no more than two dogs a residence. A . report from the.

borough health and building inspector, Mr R. Ponga, said 25 per cent of the complaints relating to the keeping of animals related to dogs. "We have no jurisdiction over roaming dogs with a collar attached and there is not much we can do about dogs which defecate on

neighbourhood front lawns," said Mr Ponga. "Unfortunately, there appear to be three classes of dogs — the child's pet or owner's show pride; the pig hunter's dog and the mature dog, no longer a pet, not fed properly and let off the chain to roam the streets.