The first Dog Registration and Animal Control Committee (DR-ACC) meeting for the year were held last week. DR-ACC representatives include members from Te Are Manu, SPCA, the Ministry of
Agriculture, Cook Islands Police Services, and Cook Islands Tourism were formed to collaboratively address the dog population issues in Rarotonga. Cook Islands Police Commissioner, Turepu James Keenan said, “The Police have some initiatives in place to address the wild and unruly dogs around the island, however, there is certainly more that can be done to strengthen the legislative framework in order to practically manage this issue. The DR-ACC committee continues to do some great work and has a robust plan with specific deliverables to meet which will be significant to the work that we are completing alongside.”

During this meeting, the warrants for persons to enter a property to attend to an animal in need were given to representatives from SPCA and Te Are Manu (TAM). “Securing these long anticipated warrants will greatly help the work that we do with regards to tending to animals in need,” said SPCA president, David Pokia. Te Are Manu veterinary, Michael Baer shared the same sentiments as Mr. Pokia and added that “Animal welfare is at the forefront of our operations and these warrants help towards providing a much-needed service for animals in distress who require medical attention.

The next round of desexing programs will start in February in each of the Puna and we are excited to have the support of the Police during the third rollout of our desexing program,” Baer adds.