There seem to be some confusion as to the requirements of the South Wairarapa Dog Control Policy and By-Law. These were put in place as a requirement of the Dog Control Act and underwent full public consultation.
As a result of that public consultation we have a requirement that all dogs must be kept on a leash in the urban areas of Featherston, Martinborough and Greytown when outside their owners property.
Outside the urban boundary, dogs may run free provided that they are under control of the owner or handler at all times.
Also as a result of that consultation some areas were deemed to be exempt from dogs, specifically our playgrounds and sports areas.
Featherston was the first town to have a dog off-lead exercise area as Council owned a suitable piece of land there that had no conflicts of use. The other towns did not have similar pieces of land available although now that a grazing license has expired we believe we now do have a suitable site for Martinborough.
It was our preference to have all the off-lead exercise areas established before the ‘no dogs’ signs were put in place but the regular complaints about the state of the sports fields highlighted the fact that we had children playing sport in dog excrement.
Unfortunately we still have a good proportion of our dog owners who do not clean up after their pets when in public places.
Adrienne Staples
