Hearing Panel
Te Rōpū Rongonga
Held in the Council Chamber, Floor 2A, Civic House, 110 Trafalgar Street, Nelson on Friday 22 March 2024, commencing at 9.00a.m.
Present: Councillors T Skinner (Chair), M Courtney and A Stallard
In Attendance: Group Manager Environmental Management (M Bishop), Team Leader Governance (R Byrne) and Assistant Governance Adviser (A Bryce)
Apologies : Nil
Karakia and Mihi Timatanga
1. Apologies
2. Confirmation of Order of Business
There was no change to the order of business.
There were no updates to the Interests Register, and no interests with items on the agenda were declared.
There was no public forum.
5.1 9 February 2024
Document number M20441, agenda pages 5 - 11 refer.
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1. Confirms the minutes of the meeting of the Hearing Panel, held on 9 February 2024, as a true and correct record. |
6. Objection to Classification of dog Max as Dangerous Richard (Ricky) Tasker
Document number R28207, agenda pages 12 - 24 refer.
Team Leader Regulatory, Chris Bascombe, and Animal Control Officer, Jeff Welch, supported by Group Manager Environmental Management, Mandy Bishop, took the report as read and answered questions on the breed and age of the dog Max, provided information on other dangerous dogs in Nelson and confirmed the process that led to the classification of Max as a dangerous dog.
Mr Bascombe and Mr Welch tabled supporting information regarding the previous incidents (tabled 83286773-47980) and explained that the terminology used was laid out in the legislation and could not be altered.
The Panel heard from the victim of the third incident, Mrs McLintock and the dog Max’s owners, Mr and Mrs Tasker.
Mrs McLintock spoke about her recollection of the incident and answered questions on whether or not she believed the dog was being friendly or aggressive whether or not the dog had leapt up onto her or her bike.
Mr and Mrs Tasker spoke about their dog Max and his background as a rescue dog who may have been ill treated by a past owner. They provided a statement from the late Mr Thomason’s (the dog walker) wife providing his comments when he had arrived home the day of the incident, noting all they wanted was to reduce the classification to “Menacing” as he had been well behaved, trained and obedient, and discussed how he had been startled by cyclists with saddlebags.
The meeting was adjourned from 10.07a.m. until 11.20a.m.
Reason for Decision
The Chairperson, Councillor Skinner, thanked the parties for attending and advised that the members had considered the reports and statements of all parties as presented.
He acknowledged the continued work and care undertaken by Mr and Mrs Tasker of the rescued dog Max.
He thanked Mrs McLintock for her affidavit and attending the meeting.
He advised the members had considered the objections to the Classification and had made a decision, the reasons for the decision were:
· The dog Max had a record of three attacks in a recent period.
· The need to protect the public was paramount.
· They accepted that Max may have suffered ill treatment in the past and could be scared at times, but the result of the attacks was more important for the public’s safety than the cause of the attacks.
· It was clear in legislation that a territorial authority must classify a dog as dangerous if there were reasonable grounds to believe that a dog was a threat to people.
Decision
The Panel dismissed the objection and upheld the classification of Max as a dangerous dog.
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1. Receives the report Objection to Classification of dog Max as Dangerous Richard (Ricky) Tasker (R28207) and its attachments (832826773-47632, 832826773-47592 and 832826773-47593); and 2. Dismisses the objection of Mr Tasker to the classification of dog Max as Dangerous; and 3. Upholds the classification of dog Max as Dangerous. |
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1 83286773-47980 Service Request 2320698 and 2322316 to Animal Control |
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Karakia Whakamutanga
There being no further business the meeting ended at 11.23a.m.
Confirmed as a correct record of proceedings by resolution on 07 May 2024.
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That the Hearing Panel 1. Confirms the minutes of the meeting of the Hearing Panel, held on 22 March 2024, as a true and correct record. |