Winners in the Early Bird Registration draw for 2010 in Wellington City have been presented with their prizes by Local Staff. To be in the draw owners had to register their dogs before 31 July. Each prize winner has received a basket of goodies for their dogs and themselves from DSS Animal Management and Butch Pet Foods. This annual promotion aims to encourage and reinforce the positive aspects of Responsible Dog Ownership. On the right Kate with Ella the Labrador owned by Fiona of Wadestown Below left Vicki with Ringo the Spoodle owned by Jill of Hataitai Below right Vicki with Tonka the Dogue de Bordeaux owned by Timothy of Tawa

Its that time of year again, were all dogs must be registrated and Paddy is no exception. You can read the story about Paddy half way down this page from a previous years registration, but below is more background about Paddy from the Museum of Wellington Website. Paddy the Wanderer "Paddy was a ginger and brown Airedale terrier who became a waterfront identity in Wellington in the 1930s. It is believed he was originally called Dash, the pet of a girl whose father was a seaman, and became familiar with the wharves on family trips to meet the father's ships. When the little girl died of pneumonia in 1928 Paddy (as he became known) took to wandering the wharves, perhaps in search of his lost playmate.  He was a familiar sight on the wharves in the 1930s and began to feature in newspaper articles. He was loved and cared for by the watersiders and harbour board workers, seamen and taxi drivers; these groups taking it in turn to pay his annual dog licence. The taxi drivers took him for 'ides all over the city, and up country as well, and he made sea voyages to New Zealand's coastal ports and to Australia.

He was said to have good sea legs and 'a really keen nose for impending storms'. In December 1935 he even made a flight in a gipsy moth biplane and apparently enjoyed the experience of flying in an open cockpit. When he was about 13 years old Paddy showed signs of old age and refused to travel far - he was usually to be found on the Tally Clerks' stand inside the Queen's Wharf gates. 'When his health deteriorated he was given a sickbed in a shed on the wharves and attended by a vet, with people calling to see him and enquiring about his welfare. Paddy died on 17 July 1939 and obituary notices were placed in the local papers. A fleet of black taxis accompanied by a traffic officer formed a funeral cortege to carry his coffin from Queen's Wharf to the city council yards for cremation. One of his best friends on the wharves was quoted as saying 'I'd give a month's pay to have Paddy back. I've had dogs but never one with the brains that Paddy had His memory is recalled by a drinking fountain on the wall of the building on the opposite side of Queen's Wharf gates to the museum. The memorial features a brass plaque with a good likeness of him and includes 2 drinking bowls for dogs. Built in 1945 using stones taken from Waterloo Bridge in London, it was paid for with funds raised by the many friends of Paddy the Wanderer."

Take one LARGE Sheep		Wellington Animal Control and the Wellington SPCA have received numerous calls over the last few months about a “rogue sheep” living in the Kiwi Point Quarry at Ngauranga Gorge. The sheep didn’t appear to be in any distress, quite the opposite in fact, he was frequently sighted sunning himself on the hillside without a care in the world. Unfortunately though, his fleece was starting to take over – he was becoming Wellingtons own “Shrek the Sheep” as described by the Dominion Post. Originally his options were limited – we realised catching him would be difficult, we’re all fit (ish) but catching a sheep in an area this size would be tricky. Our remaining option was by no means the desired one, but for his own welfare he may have to be shot. Thankfully the SPCA managed to get a volunteer with his pack of dogs to help out! With the help of the dogs the sheep came down from the hills, you’d think with a bulky fleece like that he’d be hindered in some way, but no, he sidestepped us amateurs with ease! Luckily, Aaron the sheep wrangler was hot on his heels – the dogs did their thing and the sheep was subdued. The sheep was taken to a shearing shed and an impressive fleece was clipped from him. He is now going to live out at the HUHA Animal Sanctuary in Kaitoke - http://www.huha.org.nz/. Here he will be able to enjoy the rest of his days without that cumbersome fleece holding him back.
MINUS all the wool
EQUALs

Wellington recently held dog owner education classes for Wellington dog owners. These classes are offered Free by DSS once a year in each of our company's districts.

The classes were a great success again, but unfortunately the weather let us down a little. However it did not dampen the enthusiasm of our teaching staff and the participants.

We are looking forward to our next free classes towards the end of 2010.

Another big win for the Wellington office adoptions. Poppy is our second dog rehomed to Aviation Security. She has now graduated as a fully fledged Detector Dog. Poppy will be now protecting our borders.

Wellington staff received a call for help from Wellington Airport recently. A dog was sighted on the runway and in conjunction with Aviation Security and Airport Fire Service Animal Management staff went looking for this dog. After numerous sightings and extensive searching the dog could not be found. The dog has lived for another day, lets hope it doesn't come back to take on the Boeings again.

Seventy years ago, friends of Paddy the Wanderer and hundreds of grieving Wellingtonians watched as a traffic officer led the funeral cortege of 12 black taxis escorting the ginger and brown Airedale terrier's coffin to the city crematorium. "I'd give a month's pay to have Paddy back," said one of the mourners. "I've had dogs, but never one with the brains Paddy had." Paddy was the stray who in the 1930s captured Wellingtonians' hearts, particularly watersiders, seamen and taxi drivers, with whom he shared his travels and adventures. He was awarded the freedom of the city in 1935. His life is remembered by the drinking fountain on Queens Wharf, opposite the Museum of Wellington City & Sea. Erected in 1945, the memorial was paid for by Paddy's many friends and includes stones from London's Waterloo Bridge, bombed during World War II. A brass plaque, considered a good likeness of Paddy, is mounted above the drinking fountain, with two drinking bowls for dogs at ground level. A lifesize statue of Paddy stands on level one in the Museum of Wellington City & Sea.Each year, as near to the anniversary of his death (July 17, 1939) as possible, the museum renews the registration of its Paddy with a Wellington City Council animal control officer in attendance for the ceremony. This is part of the museum's ongoing commitment to keep Paddy's memory alive.

Photo courtesy Museum of Wellington City & Sea Senior animal control officer Vicki affixes the 2009 registration tag to the Museum of Wellington City & Sea's lifesize statue of Paddy the Wanderer.

During the year, children can have Paddy-inspired birthday parties at the museum. They feature a personal appearance from him. Anyone unable to attend can always give Paddy's statue a friendly pat. They may also receive an appreciative bark, generated by an overhead sensor. In 2007 Wellington honoured Paddy with a second parade. The occasion marked the launch of Paddy the Wanderer, the biography by Dianne Haworth. Paddy spent his adolescence as the beloved pet of Elsie Glasgow, with whom he went to the wharves when she and her mother met the ships bringing Elsie's father home. His three-and-a-half-year-old mistress died from pneumonia in 1928 and in his grief Paddy took to roaming the wharves, never belonging to another again, despite attempts to resettle him at his original home and with others. He stowed away to Australia, sailed around the New Zealand coast, rode the Wellington trams, and enjoyed being the first dog in the country to fly in an aeroplane. Paddy was known by the honorary title of assistant watchman during his later years. When his health began to deteriorate, he spent much of his time sitting in his favourite place, the tally clerk's office or standing on Queens Wharf, where friends from all over the city visited him. Story by Christopher Moor, Courtsey of "The Wellingtonian"

Iggle Piggle came to us as the result of a complaint. He wasn’t content to stay in his own paddock, he wanted to go and dig up the freshly planted trees in the neighbouring paddock. As you can imagine the owner of the trees was none too amused to find Piggle rooting up his new saplings, so he had to be removed.

So in the back of the van he went, he appeared to quite enjoy his trip, gazing contently out the back window. He stayed with us at the Wellington Shelter for a couple of weeks, and to put it bluntly, was spoilt rotten. Not only did the staff being in all their scraps, but he also got the leftover fruit, veg & bread from local supermarkets & greengrocers.

But now what to do with him? He couldn’t stay with us as we just don’t have the long term set up for a pig. So we rung around a bit, and turns out our friends over at Horowhenua Animal Control have the perfect paddock just ready for him. So off he went to Levin, happy as Larry on the back of the trailer.

Iggle made it to Levin, however, his lovely paddock wasn’t quite up to his expectations. So now he is more of a free range pig, and when the weather gets a bit chilly he goes and knocks/butts the door to the office and is allowed in to relax next to the heater.

They do have to be a bit vigilant and may have to turn him every once in a while, don’t want him to get too well done on one side now do we?

Spike is an OAP and his previous owner declined to come and collect him when he ended up coming to visit us at the pound. His 7 days had passed….. what to do now? Spike was in pretty bad condition when he came to us, so a trip to the vet was the first thing in order. The vet confirmed that Spike is in his more senior years (probably around 10 years old) and that apart from a few pressure sores from sleeping on hard ground, some fairly grotty looking ears and a wee bit of arthritis, this old fella is in pretty good nick. Spike was also fairly stinky, we assume from being an outdoor dog, so courtesy of our good friends at Paws in the City Spike was in store for some 5 star treatment. Spike had to endure the torture of a good brush, a hydro bath and to top it all off an agonising massage (his favourite bit apparently). Now he’s like a different dog. It’s as if he has a new lease of life! He looks (and smells) great and has a bit more of a spring in his step. And to top it all off a lovely couple and their son who came in to look at him over the weekend have decided he’s the dog for them, so he’s off to his new home, where we’re hoping he’ll be thoroughly spoilt.

Spike arriving back from his 5 star treatment and looking Gooood

A call came into our Wellington office from a worried dog owner asking for help. They had been walking their elderly German shepherd on a track in Wellington's town belt the evening before when the dog went down the bank and didn’t return.

After looking that evening and the next day they couldn’t find the dog and decided to call for help.

Team Leader Damian and Senior ACO Vicki went up there to look with the owners. They went down the bank where the dog was last seen and proceeded down the hill a couple of hundred metres in rough ground.

They found the dog on a ledge unable to move so they had to carry him up the rugged terrain back to its owners.

The dog was then taken to the vet. Considering the dog’s age and the fact that it was exposed to the elements for a night and day it seems to be okay.

The new DSS Animal Management call centre was only operational for a few days when it had the chance to show the benefits of covering more than one district.

Michelle, a concerned member of the public, found a dog wandering the streets of downtown Wellington one evening. She decided to do the responsible thing and call dog control.

Michelle who is from Auckland was only in the Wellington area for one day and did not know the city council phone number or Animal Management's local number. Michelle had used Animal Management’s services previously when she was in Manukau and had the Auckland number in her mobile phone.

It was only it was only a few days of the call centre becoming operational 24/7 when she called the number and contacted the Animal Management call centre.

The staff at the call centre took the call and were able to quickly dispatch the Animal Control Officer on duty in Wellington.

The call was taken at 10pm and in 30 minutes the officer was there to take care of the dog. The dog was picked up from the shelter the next day.

A big win for the Wellington office adoptions. Tia was handed over to us as an unwanted dog. She was timid for a few days then came out of her shell and showed all the qualities required by Aviation Security to be a trainee Explosive Detector Dog. Tia has recently graduated as a fully fledged Detector Dog. The photos show her proud moment.