By Brian Rudman NZherald.co.nz
Animal champion Bob Kerridge is outraged that good dog owners like himself face a huge rise in Auckland Council dog registration fees, to help pay for the sins of bad dog owners.
COMMENT: HE SHOULD BE UPSET!
Yesterday as I handed over $287.75 to license my well-behaved car, I wondered if the SPCA boss could be persuaded to broaden his campaign to include law-abiding motorists as well. After all, the biggest chunk of the car license fee was for accident compensation. Why should I be paying to rehabilitate the hoons who smash themselves up any more than Mr Kerridge should pay for prosecuting errant dog owners? If only things were so simple.
Mr Kerridge is fuming about what he labels "a dastardly plan" to raise the licence fee for a de-sexed dog from $47 a year for those with "a good owner license" and from $75 for those without, up to $120, plus an extra $50 for those who don't pay on time. "Apart from the sheer cost," he says, "the lack of recognition for good dog owners represents an abysmal lack of common sense which will, quite rightly, incense the most responsible of our citizens." COMMENT: RIGHT AGAIN.
The problem for the council is it costs $12.1 million to run dog control services in Auckland. Currently, dog licence fees bring in about $7.1 million and the rest of the cost comes out of the general rates. The proposed fee increase is designed so that the dog owners' contribution rises from around 57 per cent of dog control costs to 80 per cent, with ratepayers left with 20 per cent.
Mr Kerridge suggests dog control is a community responsibility, not a burden solely for dog owners, especially not "good" dog owners.
“My dog is worried about the economy because Alpo is up to 99 cents a can. That's almost $7.00 in dog money.” Joe Weinstein
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