10 April 2012

SPCA Auckland: “The Maths Tell the Story”

Statistics vindicate opposition to dog registration hike

SPCA Auckland says statistics prove it offers at least twice the service to the region’s animals at half the cost, when compared to services provided by Auckland Council.

The Society cites these figures as vindicating its call to dog-owners not to pay their registration fees until Council slashes proposed increases.

Meanwhile, the SPCA is also calling on owners and everyone who cares about dogs, to sign its online petition in favour of reasonable registration fees. The petition can be found at: www.surveymonkey.com/s/DogRegistrations.

“The massive proposed hikes cannot be justified by citing the high cost of animal management, as statistics show Council operations in this field to lack basic cost-effectiveness, when compared with their only realistic benchmark, the work of SPCA Auckland,” says Executive Director, Bob Kerridge.

“Council’s own figures show it spends approximately $12.2 million on dog control each year, while its 51 Animal Management Officers and two contractors last year investigated just 32,419 complaints, or 635 per officer.

“By contrast, SPCA Auckland’s six Animal Welfare Inspectors coped with 9,814 cases, or 1,636 per Inspector. In addition, we care for 18, 384 animals per year at our Animal Village in Mangere. All of this, and a range of other welfare activities, are funded by a budget of just $6.5 million,” he points out.

“The proposed increases, including a whopping 202 percent hike for licencing a de-sexed dog and a 155 percent hike for licensed dog owners, are absurd, unwarranted and unrealistic. They are also likely to prove counter-productive, as they involve abandoning incentives for responsible dog ownership.

“Every well-behaved dog understands the words ‘SIT’ and ‘STAY’. We want dog-owners to follow their best friends’ example and SIT tight, until Auckland Council ensures that registration fees STAY at reasonable levels,” Mr Kerridge adds.

Last week, Auckland’s Deputy Mayor, Penny Hulse, indicated that Council might reconsider the proposed increases in the light of a backlash from dog-owners.

“Ms Hulse and her colleagues will need to slash the proposed hikes by a considerable amount for them to be seen as fair and realistic. Many families struggle to do their best for their dogs when it comes to food and healthcare. It’s absurd to impose a high licensing fee on them, in addition to these essential items of expenditure.

“Do we really want to discourage families from providing homes for dogs or from registering them and do we truly want to pile additional costs on to responsible dog-owners who’ve made sure their animals are desexed?” Bob Kerridge asks.

“Instead of crying poor and imposing massive fee increases on thousands of responsible, animal-loving families, Council should first look at pruning its budget through greater efficiencies.

“Until Council agrees to STAY reasonable in its demands, we will keep on advising dog-owners to SIT tight and not pay!” he says.

ENDS

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