Dog owners have argued passionately for the right to exercise their dogs off the leash at Dunedin sports fields, as wildlife advocates called for stronger rules to keep the likes of penguins and sea lions safe.
A Dunedin City Council hearing yesterday was told dogs needed the freedom to run unhindered, but also heard there were plenty of owners who seemed unable to either control or take responsibility for the animals.
A hearings committee of chairman Cr Neville Peat and Crs Mike Lord and Doug Hall began two days of hearing in person from some of the 380 submissions received on the city's dog control bylaw, and its bylaw on keeping animals and birds.
The most contentious of the changes was a proposal to require dogs to be kept on a leash on council sports grounds.
The committee heard there were about 17,000 dogs in Dunedin, and council animal control team leader Ros MacGill said complaints about dogs fouling sports grounds had been increasing.
She said complaints had risen from 38 in the 2012-13 year to 46 in 2013-14 and 57 in 2014-15, with 13 infringements issued in the last three and a-half years. Staff had also observed the problem.
But dog owners argued access to the sort of open spaces provided by sports grounds was essential, and it was irresponsible owners who failed to pick up their dogs' faeces.
They argued new rules would make little difference to those people.
Alan Wise gave the first submission, the retired farmer telling the committee he owned a golden Labrador.
Many people exercised their dogs at Jubilee Park, in the town belt, responsible people who picked up their dogs' faeces, Mr Wise said.
‘‘I would say we are actually the major user of that park, rather than the people who use the park for sport. What is being suggested is an insult to responsible owners.''
Debbie Price told the committee that time off the leash for dogs was much different from time on it. Dogs not given time off the leash became a nuisance, as they had not exercised sufficiently.
Ms Price said of concern about owners leaving dog faeces on sports grounds: ‘‘You're either a poo picker-upper or you're not a poo picker-upper.''
She suggested more enforcement by the council to make sure people did.
Alexander Kerr said he had walked his dogs at Mornington Park for 15 years.
‘‘To not let them off the leash would have been lousy. I've seen the dog parks; they just don't cut it for me. You're losing freedoms; there's too many restrictions."
Karen Anderson argued the proposed bylaw meant Dunedin would be ‘‘leading the world in actually going backwards''.
The recent incident where three Irish wolfhounds attacked a woman showed just because dogs were on a leash did not mean they were under control, Ms Anderson said.
Dogs were intelligent, and responded to training rather than being chained up.
‘‘You do not have a mandate for restricting access for dogs,'' she told the committee.
Other submitters talked about the health benefits of walking dogs and the small size of dog parks and their proximity compared with nearby sports grounds.
Beyond Orokonui project spokesman Rhys Millar said penguins were in decline, and dogs and cats were part of the problem.
Dogs came in contact with and harassed sea lions, for instance, and ‘‘time and time again I have seen the inability of dog owners to control dogs in that excited state''.
Some beaches should be closed to dogs in seasons where they were used by wildlife, he said.
Tomahawk-Smaills Beachcare Trust trustee Mark Jackson told the committee sea lion pups had been born annually at Smaills Beach recently.
The idea dogs could be under control off a leash ‘‘doesn't seem to work very well''.
He had spoken to numerous dog owners about the issue, but while they clearly loved their dogs, they were not always willing to take responsibility for them.
Mr Jackson called for dogs to either be excluded from the beach or kept on a leash at all times.
