Dog-related complaints decreased by nearly 30 per cent from last summer to this summer – and the compliance team has a feeling it knows why.
A total of 442 dog-related requests were received by Taupō District Council from December 1 2018 to February 28 2019 – down from 621 for the same period the previous year. These included complaints about roaming, fouling, barking, rushing and general animal management.
Compliance team supervisor Ross McDonald said the team had tried a new initiative this year, with a compliance officer patrolling popular lakefront reserves and the Lions Walk on a bike.
“Our officer Cairo Quaife-Miers was out there talking to people with dogs, encouraging compliance and being available for people to speak to,” he said. “I think this made a real difference in the number of complaints. She was really visible and proactive in her work which appears to have worked really well, looking at the numbers.”
Mr McDonald said the initiative meant a greater staff presence, better interactions with the community and improved education for dog owners that were out and about. The Taupō lakefront patrols ran in conjunction with regular patrols at Kinloch, Pukawa, Omori and Kuratau.
He said the initiative was launched in November after assessing the best way to patrol areas that were often inaccessible by vehicle.
“We decided that by bike was the best and safest way to do it,” he said. “We’d previously had a large number of complaints around the Lions Walk and lakefront reserves historically at this time of year, so we thought we’d give this a go.”
Miss Quaife-Miers volunteered to undertake the role on the bike because she saw it as a great way to connect with the community while getting some fitness in.
“I liked the way it made me approachable to the community and I think people really enjoyed seeing me out in uniform doing my job,” she said. “The response I’ve had from the community has been really positive. I also can’t complain about the view – it doesn’t get much better than our little patch of paradise!”