Missed the Target - Northern Advocate – 3 September 2009

NB. Italics section was abridged from published letter

Missed the Target

It is reassuring that people do not have to give excessive personal details when registering children for day care or school or there may have been a different twist to Friday and Saturday’s stories. I totally disagree with the actions that Mr Agnew, in frustration, finally resorted to making his point. Many of us have previously criticised council and its contractor for the shooting of dogs and there has since been positive steps to introduce euthanasia by lethal injection. This shooting is no exception to our outcry about shooting a dog without urgent cause and sound reason. In this instance the dog did have a known owner and home and would have been found a loving home if only the appropriate organisations had been asked. We are of the opinion that an owner’s date of birth to register a dog is unnecessary. Those attempting to deceive authorities would probably not give their correct name let alone correct date of birth. It is nonsense. Are our laws, some made by over-zealous politicians, being enforced to the extreme, because they can be? Where is the common sense, this person wanted to pay to register his dog, having attempted to on numerous occasions, or was bureaucracy getting in the way? Other District Councils, I have spoken to, would have handled a similar incident by taking the money from the ratepayer, who wishes to register their dogs, as long as the majority of details were surrendered, move on and focus on receiving and boosting revenue by concentrating on the many unregistered dogs in the district. Unlike the council ‘stuff up’ with the building built recently, on the boundary, on the corner of Kamo and Station Road, with the Councils Senior representative quoting ‘We will just have to live with it.’ Surely here was an instance that an approach of such may have helped. Alan, if your aim was at bureaucracy you have missed the target and a defenceless innocent dog has suffered when other forms of protest may have resulted in a better result for all.

Warren Slater

Maunu