Dogs back in spotlight next year

More than 300 comments about dogs will help shape a review of Council’s dog control bylaw next year.

Waipā District Council has sought feedback on dog issues over the past few months before a formal review of the Dog Control Bylaw 2015 is undertaken next year. Formal consultation is scheduled for April/May 2023.

Already, plenty of people have shared their views about how dogs in the district should be managed.

Compliance manager Karl Tutty said he doesn’t think there will be a “radical overhaul” of existing dog control rules, but does expect some changes. Council has already picked up on suggestions made over the last few months relating to issues like enforcement and signage.

“Just recently we’ve increased how often we’re emptying doggie doo bins across the district. All up, we have 44 bins but the reality is that every person wants a bin where they walk their dog. We can’t do that and instead focus on off-leash and high-use areas. But this is something we are actively looking at.”

Many of the 300 comments had focussed on off-leash areas, Tutty said. There had also been useful feedback about the desire for potential swimming sites, bush walks and new exercise areas for the district’s dogs.

“These are the types of issues we’ll need to work through before we put specific proposals out to the community and ask for formal feedback,” Tutty said.

“For example, there’s been quite a bit of comment about Lake Te Koo Utu in Cambridge with a lot of discussion about whether dogs should be on or off-leash and whether or not there could potentially be different rules for different times of the day. Those sorts of things are still in the mix,” he said.

There are currently 9,400 registered dogs in the Waipā district, a slight increase on previous years. Council is aware of 340 dogs which remain unregistered and is now actively following up with owners. Owners with unregistered dogs are liable for a $300 fine.