Auckland Dogs To Take To The Streets

Auckland dogs and their families are being called to march up Auckland’s Queen Street to Aotea Square at 10.30am on Sunday 16 November. Organisers say the “Barkfest” is to register the concern of many dog owners about the City Council’s impending decisions on off-leash dog exercise areas.

DOG (Dog Owners Group) President Cathy Casey says the Council is leaving its final decisions to one council official.

“After a lengthy submission process at community board level, the decision on which parks we can exercise our dogs off-leash now rests with one faceless council compliance officer – that’s hardly democratic. We are really concerned that he or she will simply ignore all the hard fought recommendations of the community boards and limit off-leash exercise to the far-flung corners of the city. A good turnout of dogs and children on the 16th will remind the Council that they need to fairly represent all ratepayers including the 18,500 registered dog owners in the city.”

Dr Casey says she is confident that Auckland dog owners will hit Queen Street in significant numbers on the day. Already DOG has sent emails to over 1,000 dog-owning individuals and over 60 groups (including dog breeders, dog training groups etc).

“We also have members pounding the pavements and parks distributing leaflets and dropping Barkfest posters into vets and dairies. The message to dog owners and their families is get to the bottom of Queen Street at 10.30am on 16 November and march to the top. Let’s raise the woof and deliver the Council a clear message.”

There will be prizes for children with the best dressed dogs and a chance to play “spot the star”, Dr Casey says

“We have approached many dog-owning celebrities and quite a few have said they will try and make it along.”

Leaflets for distribution can be downloaded from http://www.dog.org.nz

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