Registered dog owners and the public will be asked in June for their views on proposed changes to the Christchurch City Council’s dog control policy.

The changes, approved for consultation in March, focus on making the rules easier for dog owners to understand, protecting popular beach areas from fouling, increasing children’s safety and preventing the harmful effects dogs can have on sensitive wildlife areas.

Some owners worry the new rules would stop them taking their pets to the city’s beaches, but the only change to the existing policy is that dogs would be prohibited from densely populated areas during daylight saving months, says Mark Vincent, the Council’s animal control officer. These areas are limited compared to the total areas available for free exercise on beaches. New signs would be put up, clearly showing where dogs were prohibited or required to be on a leash.

Changes to the policy around children’s playgrounds have been suggested to help make it easier for dog owners to keep to the rules.

Now, dogs are not allowed within 10m of a playground. The new policy would say they are not allowed in a children’s playground.

Council ecologist Andrew Crossland has encouraged the Council to exclude or restrict dogs from several of Christchurch’s ecologically sensitive areas, including the Styx Mill Conservation Reserve (apart from the Styx Mill Reserve dog park), Naughty Boys Island, McCormacks Bay roosting islands, Bexley Wetland except for the walking tracks) and Cockayne Reserve.

He says Christchurch is known internationally for its wildlife and has one of the highest bird populations of any comparative area in New Zealand. “Up to 30,000 water birds congregate on the Avon-Heathcote Estuary at certain times of the year and thousands more are found on other Christchurch wetlands,” Mr Crossland says.

“Many of these birds are vulnerable to disturbance and predation because they nest, feed and roost on the ground. Dogs can cause serious damage to these populations.

Another important change to the dog control policy is taking out the need for officers to give a first warning. The present policy restricts the discretion of dog control officers in having to give warning in some cases and was introduced by the Council in the first policy because infringement notices were new. It is considered dog owners should now be aware of the law.

• Registered dog owners will get a copy of the consultation pamphlet in June and have until mid-July to have their say. You don't have to be a dog owner to take part, however. Pick up a pamphlet in June from any Council service center or library and let the City Council know by mid-July what you think of the proposed changes.

• The report considered by the City Council in March is on the internet, at www.ccc.govt.nz/Council/Proceedings/2003/MarchRegulatoryConsents/ProposedAmendmentsDogControlPolicy.pdf

• Other information at www.ccc.govt.nz/animals