Practicing and participating certifiers are listed below. If you are interested in getting your dog trained please contact any of the trainers or your local Department of Conservation office.
Liz Whitwell – 06 869 5639, lwhitwell@doc.govt.nz, Coromandel, DOC
Malcolm MacFarlane – 027 235 8424 or 07 868 9912, Thames/ Coromandel, *Private
Christine Friis, 07 867 9080, cfriis@doc.govt.nz, Thames, DOC
Sheila Westley, 021 716 514, avertmydog@projectkiwi.org.nz, Kuaotunu, *Private
Section 58 of the Dog Control Act, 1996
“The owner of any dog that attacks any per-son or any protected wildlife and causes –
• Serious injury to any person; or
• The death of any protected wildlife; or
• Such injury to any protected wildlife that it becomes necessary to destroy the animal to terminate its suffering -commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or a fine not exceeding $20,000, or both, and the court shall, on convicting the owner, make an order for the destruction of the dog unless satisfied that the circum-stances of the attack were exceptional and do not justify destruction.”
To this end, DOC has the ability to use vet checks and DNA testing to identify the cause of death and in the case where dogs are the cause, to use the DNA to identify and find an individual animal.