'Impossible' to get action: Kāinga Ora criticised over neglected pets.
'Impossible' to get action: Kāinga Ora criticised over neglected pets.
By RNZ Online
A neighbour of Kāinga Ora houses in Onehunga reported neglected and aggressive dogs but received no action.
The man, who faced threats, said Kāinga Ora failed to enforce pet policies despite repeated complaints.
Kāinga Ora stated tenants must be responsible pet owners, but animal welfare issues should be reported to the SPCA.
A neighbour of Kāinga Ora houses in Onehunga who has been bitten by an aggressive dog, tried to save a starving dog, and repeatedly notified the housing agency of his concerns about neglected pets, says Kāinga Ora doesn’t intervene.
The man, who did not want to benamed because of death threats from past tenants, told Checkpoint it was “impossible” to get action from Kāinga Ora over the heartbreaking scenes he had encountered during his decade living next door to the social housing.
On Monday, Checkpoint revealed the plight of three dogs locked in a Kāinga Ora house in Bucklands Beach, Auckland, without food or water in filthy conditions, including faeces and rats.
All Access. All in one subscription.From $2 per week
The dogs were eventually seized and euthanised. The tenant only had approval to keep one dog and pets had been seized from her before.
The Onehunga resident said he’d been complaining to Kāinga Ora about the neglected and malnourished pets of various tenants at neighbouring properties for years.
The complaints related to:
Six dogs barking from a locked basement in the height of summer, with nobody home;
A starved dog at another neighbouring Kāinga Ora property that the agency knew about but which the tenant did not have approval for;
An aggressive dog that the resident raised several concerns about that eventually attacked him.
The man described the starved dog as looking as if it should weigh 30kg but instead being about half the size.
“It’s still got very little or no shelter. It’s in a terrible condition. It’s still caged in ... [the] backyard. It’s not looked after.”
Though a vet had now been to check the animal, the man approached the owner and offered to buy the dog so he could care for it.
The starving dog is kept in a small yard with little or no shelter. Photo / RNZ
He said Kāinga Ora admitted to knowing the dog was at the property despite the tenant not having approval for the animal.
“When we said we’d heard the dog had stopped barking maybe a month ago the response from Kāinga Ora was, why didn’t I notify them as soon as I’d heard that the dog had stopped barking.
“So if we don’t hear a dog barking, we should contact them.”
He said it was “actually impossible” to get any action from authorities except for the police when he and a neighbour discovered up to six dogs locked in a basement.
“We called Kāinga Ora and got no action. We called the council – they said they’d be out in a few days.
“The SPCA said it was a holiday weekend so they had no one on. And we eventually called the police, who came and one of the police [officers] adopted the dog herself.
“In follow-up, Kāinga Ora didn’t really seem to be responsible at all. It’s always someone else’s responsibility.”
He said the police were great but it was not their responsibility, nor was it the job of animal control.
With the aggressive dog, the man said he repeatedly notified Kāinga Ora but nothing changed despite him having camera footage of the animal.
He said he was eventually attacked by the dog and described the lack of responsibility as “so frustrating”.
Whose responsibility are the pets of Kāinga Ora tenants?
The man did not believe Kāinga Ora was keeping to its own animal policy.
This included that tenants needed permission to own a pet, must have a registered dog, couldn’t have a menacing or nuisance dog, if their dog attacked anyone the tenant could be asked to remove it, a dog couldn’t have puppies and the tenant couldn’t be a disqualified owner.
“I think Kāinga Ora need to take some responsibility for the properties they have,” the man said.
“The one next door has just been finished being fumigated for the flea infestation after the last tenants left with their pets.”
He wanted regular inspections and pet policies enforced and suggested the Tenancy Tribunal be involved.
“Those who want pets must first get Kāinga Ora’s consent – they must agree to follow local council bylaws and to take responsibility for the containment, health, and wellbeing of their pet.
He said once people had done that, they should then let Kāinga Ora know and if necessary, it could take action under the Residential Tenancies Act.
SPCA general manager of animal services Corey Regnerus-Kell told Checkpoint animal welfare issues were the remit of the SPCA, unless there were more than 10 involved and then it was the responsibility of the Ministry for Primary Industries.
SPCA's Corey Regnerus-Kell says the Ministry for Primary Industries takes over cases involving more than 10 animals. Photo / Mike Dinsdale
“If they’re not getting food, shelter, water or if they’re under any unnecessary pain, distress, or suffering, that’s where the SPCA walks in.
“So we are looking after the sick, the injured and the vulnerable animals to try to make sure we can care for them, rehabilitate them and rehome them.”
When asked about the three dogs at the Bucklands Beach property, Regnerus-Kell said he couldn’t comment as it was still an open case.
“We did support and attend multiple occasions between December and March – we were on this property and speaking with the owners of the animals at this time.”
