Dog control laws to be reviewed

At  the last meeting of the Fono Ekepule for the year on Wednesday December 3rd, the members unanimously voted in favor of Hon. Vaiga Tukuitoga’s motion for the government to review the dog control laws. 

The member for Alofi North said that the increasing number of feral dogs on the island is a real concern particularly when they cause injury to the members of the public. 

Hon. Tofua Puletama from Makefu said that the dogs are useful animals for hunting purposes, and he admitted to keeping dogs for this purpose and agreed that the increasing numbers is now a problem that needs to be addressed. 

Common roll member Terry Coe suggested that perhaps it’s time to set a limit to the number of dogs for each household to two. 

Another common roll member Stan Kalauni agreed with all the comments and he acknowledged and commended the work of the Rock Vets a group of volunteer vets from New Zealand and the work they do in trying to desex as many of the dogs on the island to control the growth of the dog population. 

The meeting unanimously supported the motion, but it remains to be seen when the government will undertake updating dog control laws.