Auckland Council is launching a new educational campaign aimed at tackling Auckland’s worsening problem with roaming dogs.
The campaign features three emotive television commercials designed to prompt behaviour change from dog owners who fail to keep their pets contained.
Council’s General Manager of Licensing and Compliance, Robert Irvine says the campaign is one of a number of initiatives underway to tackle roaming dogs in Auckland.
“We are throwing all the resources we have at this problem, but we need dog owners to play their part and take responsibility for their pets, otherwise this problem is never going to go away,” said Mr Irvine.
The council receives around 15,000 reports of roaming dogs annually, around 1,200 reports of attacks on people, and a similar number of reported attacks on other animals.
Chair of the Regulatory and Safety Committee, Councillor Josephine Bartley says dog owners who let their dogs roam need to “step up and think of the consequences”.
“Too many dog owners think it’s okay to let their dogs have a wander. It’s not. We have kids scared to walk to school and people living alone who don’t want to leave their homes in case they get bitten,” said Cr Bartley.
“It’s also not fair on the dogs to let them out on their own, as they could be hit by a car, attacked by another animal or be impounded.”
The campaign’s creative concept ‘For you, your dog, and your neighbours’ aims to connect with dog owners’ personal motivations for keeping their dogs contained and shows how roaming dogs are affecting communities from three different viewpoints.
The campaign began airing on radio over the weekend with television commercials to follow from 7 July. The first commercial, set in one of the council’s shelters and featuring a real Animal Management staff member, focuses on the impact of a dog who has been caught roaming and picked up by the council.
“Sadly, only around half of impounded roaming dogs are claimed by their owners, meaning the majority of unclaimed dogs are humanely euthanised if they can’t be rehomed,” says Mr Irvine.
“Our shelter staff are all dog lovers, so it’s hard for them seeing so many dogs abandoned by owners who don’t seem to care. The message of this first commercial is basically that if you love your dog, don’t let them roam.”
The campaign has been funded by revenue from infringement fees issued to dog owners who have failed to register their dogs. Although it will be region-wide, activity will be focused on audiences in the south and parts of west Auckland where communities are most at risk from roaming dogs and dog attacks, Council confirmed.
The campaign videos can be viewed on YouTube.
