Auckland Council's new ways to deal with dogs

Auckland Council is using DNA testing of dogs, employing "barking advisers" and giving staff body cameras to combat nuisance dogs. The council's annual animal management report shows a 4% reduction in dog attacks and an 18% reduction in roaming dogs over the past financial year.

This followed new council initiatives including creating a team of barking advisors, giving animal management officers body cameras and using DNA analysis to resolve dog attack cases. With the DNA testing, animal management could scientifically link a dog to an attack. The unit is the first in New Zealand to use this technology.

The bark advisers team was created to deal with nuisance barking complaints, of which there were 7149 in the past year. According to the report, the new approach has seen a 13.5 per cent reduction in barking complaints, and fewer repeat calls to noisy dogs.

Read the full story here.
Image: Stuff

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