Four Paws Outdoors owner Jamie Hughes said his dog-walking business regularly exercised up to 10 dogs at a time on tracks in the Silver Peaks area.
Ospri has scheduled an aerial drop of 1080 in the area in mid-June.
The operation is designed to control possum numbers and eventually eradicate bovine tuberculosis from New Zealand.
The 1080 drop had forced Mr Hughes to restructure his business operation.
He would now exercise the dogs off the leash in the Maungatuas.
"You can’t let 10 dogs off at the beach. My daily life has been affected. From Whare Flat all the way to Waitati — all those tracks are gone. I’ve lost the area and I’m struggling."
Exercising dogs off the leash was important, as a well-exercised dog had fewer nuisance behaviours. Ground-based pest-control programmes by Ospri using traps and Feratox baits restricted where this could be done.
A Dunedin City Council spokesman said despite the restrictions, there were more than 30 places dog owners could exercise their dogs off the leash, including at Flagstaff and Nicols Creek.
Dog walkers were not the only group affected by the 1080 drop.
The annual Dunedin Winter Solstice event had been booked to be held at Waiora Scout Camp on June 17.
Solstice crew member Alice Macklow said the booking had been cancelled because of the drop.
She wondered why, when 1080 was no risk to humans, and dogs were prohibited at the event.
The cancellation had forced them to search for alternative land within an hour’s drive of Dunedin.
The "not for profit" event had been run for more than 20 years, including several times at the camp, she said.
"It’s essentially a dance, where people listen to music together and have a good boogie."
Scouts New Zealand acting chief executive Shaun Greaves said the bookings were cancelled because a reservoir located in the drop area provided water to the camp.
The reservoir would be closed for two months from June 5 and the council was providing the camp with a limited supply of water during the closure.
An Ospri spokesman said the impact on recreational users to the area, including dog owners, was considered in the planning of the aerial drop.
The council had identified several off-leash exercises areas for use during this period, which would be promoted to dog owners during the operation.
Aerial drop of 1080 poison in Silver Peaks area scheduled this month
● The catchment and affected tracks will be closed to all users for about 15 days.
● The area will be closed to dogs for up to a year to ensure their safety.
● Hunting permits for the catchment will be suspended for a minimum four months.
● Hunters with dogs will be suspended for 12 months or until testing determines the area is safe for dogs.
Ground based pest control work in Dunedin
Dogs must be kept on a leash:
● At Warrington Recreation Reserve until June 16.
● At Signal Hill until July 25.
● At Bethunes Gully and Mt Cargill tracks until October 1.
● At Evansdale Glen until October 15.
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Comments
With regard to the Winter Solstice event, I agree with Alice Macklow who can't see why it should be cancelled. Dunedin City Councile is being ridiculously risk-averse in closing that reservoir for two months. The usual approach is to test the water at the intake for the reservoir, 8 and 24 hours after the drop - the timeframe where fluoroacetate from 1080 is most likely to be detected. Fluoroacetate has only been detected in 4% of water tests after 1080 drops, and then only at 1 or 2 parts per billion - infinitesimally small traces.
Sympathy for the inconvenience suffered by the dog-walking business. But which is more important, saving him minor inconvenience, or removing a possible reservoir of TB possums (and incidentally, helping out native birds in the forest by killing introduced predators)?