Former Tauranga City Council environmental monitoring manager John Payne is named as the consultant who will be conducting the Hastings District dog control review.

Former TCC environmental monitoring manager John Payne is heading to Hastings to review the Hastings District Council's dog control policy.

Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule called for the review of the operation following public criticism of the council's animal control staff and policies.

'The terms of reference have been developed to ensure a wide-ranging review of the whole operation and I am confident that Mr Payne has the credentials and experience to bring an impartial view to the process,” says Lawrence.

John was taking a family holiday this week after TCC made him redundant and he hasn't yet been briefed about the consultancy.

'It's probably just more a whole review of how they do things,” says John. 'I know a number of years back they decided to take quite a strong stance on some of the dog behaviour problems they were having.

'It's just basically to now have a look at it; do we need to continue in that mode, or button off a little bit or just try some different ways.

'They are really just taking an opportunity to have a look at how they deliver the service and see if there's better ways of doing it.”

John's spent about 25 years working for councils and is a known presence in the New Zealand dog control industry.

At one stage he was national spokesman for the New Zealand Institute of Animal Control Officers.

'I do know a lot of the people involved in dog control right throughout the country,” says John.

'We do have it really good, as far as Tauranga is concerned. I put it down to a lot of responsible dog owners, but also the fact that they have got a really good balance as far as I can see in terms of enforcement, education and incentives.”

While dog numbers in Tauranga are increasing, along with the city's general growth, the numbers of reported dog bites are decreasing, which is against the national trend.

Dog bites are increasing throughout the country, says John. There are more than 600,000 known dogs in New Zealand and ACC claims are increasing every year.

'In Tauranga we've had that quite significant decrease every year in reported dog bites, so they must be doing something right,” says John.

'What works in Tauranga doesn't necessarily work in Hastings or Rotorua. You have got to have that good strategic mix of how to do things.

'I'm quite looking forward to it. It's good to do some comparisons with other councils round the country, to see different ways of doing things; see what may have worked in other areas and could be worth a go down there.

'It sounds to me like they are pretty onto it anyway. Some of the councils are quite pro-active in a lot of the stuff they do.”

The Hastings Mayor was forced to call for the review in answer criticism of the Hastings District Council's dog control regime, which resulted in a Facebook page called Hastings Dog Rangers Wall of Shame.

At a public meeting attended by about 200 people, the Mayor was presented with signatures and a range of complaints about instances where the actions of dog control officers are seen to be at fault.

Complaints include dogs being seized: from good homes, and while registered, chipped and kept behind fences.

HDC deliberately adopted a hard line on dogs to reduce dog attacks and put enforcement costs on irresponsible dog owners.

Audit New Zealand says dog attacks on people dropped from 63 in 2007/2008 to 17 in 2011/2012.

And dog attacks on other animals more than halved. Dog registrations are up, and there are fewer dangerous dogs in the community because they have been put down.

John is expected to have a report ready for the Hastings council before Christmas.

A copy of the HDC review of its ‘policy, practices and approaches of the Animal Control Section' is available by clicking here.