Packs of wild dogs without microchips faced Murray Chilcott
Packs of wild dogs without microchips faced Murray Chilcott when he started as an animal control 20 years ago, but things have changed since then. ?You can walk around Porirua now and there are no dogs on the loose, certainly not in packs,? says Porirua City Council animal control coordinator Mr Chilcott. Last week Lower North Island animal control officers held an AGM to discuss current affairs, with emphasis falling on canine micro chipping. Of the 3,800 dogs registered in Porirua around one-third are micro-chipped. ?The new legislation came in around 2006 and is showing its benefit now ? you are now able to identify the dog with the owner from a national database. ?On the other side of the coin there are complications with enforcing the law and getting people to register [dogs],? he says. Mr Chilcott, a Tawa resident, has attended over 15,000 call-outs with an average of 1,500 animal complaints made to the council each year. He began work on July 11 1989, a day he remembers vividly. ?They told me that I had the best job ever and I totally agree with them. ?No two days are the same; that is the best part of the job?. The humour and camaraderie of the job have been tinged by ?dealing with some horrific dog bites?. However, animal control is not restricted to dogs. Seals, wild peacocks, rogue pigs running amuck, turtles, sheep, horses and all almost every other type of animal has crossed his path. He has also assisted the police and SPCA in multiple investigations. ?There are many incidents, some we keep to ourselves, because what is funny to us might be a problem for someone else,? Mr Chilcott says. One day, while still fresh on the job, he and a colleague penned a pack of dogs in an alleyway. Not knowing what to do next they ?just decided to charge them and grab what we could?. ?I?ve been bitten a few times, but they were mainly my fault. ?Dogs can sense you ... you build up the ability to read animals and be really aware of what they will do?.
