First Meeting of Dog Control Sub-Committee

Southland District Council's new dog control sub-committee held its first meeting on Monday.

Committee chair Bruce Halligan said the sub-committee was formed to provide a more streamlined and faster approach to dog control functions, in particular the classification of dangerous and menacing dogs, and probationary and disqualified owners.

Before the sub-committee's establishment and with Council's recently adopted six-weekly meeting cycle, it could take up to six weeks to deal with these matters.

"The new sub-committee will enable markedly reduced response times following dog control incidents," Mr Halligan said.

Any owner can object to Council any classifications made by the sub-committee.

At the first meeting, four matters were dealt with involving three classifications of dogs and one classification of an owner.