26 Sep 2016

Cooks police and SPCA to unite efforts on stray dogs

8:49 am on 26 September 2016

The Cook Islands SPCA has teamed up with local police to take on the responsibility of getting roaming dogs off the streets.

The organisation will also help owners register dogs and show them ways to keep their pets from wandering into trouble and being put down by dog control officers.

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Stray dogs are an issue for the tourism industry in the Cook Islands with eight to 10 percent of visitors complaining about the dogs. Photo: RNZI / Mary Baines

Police are believed to have shot 10 dogs last month as part of a crackdown in a country where stray dogs are seen as problematic to the tourism industry.

The SPCA's Robyn Kippenberger told The Cook Islands News that the agreement will try and prevent dogs from being needlessly disposed of.

Ms Kippenberger said the agreement will see SPCA volunteers collecting dogs and returning them to their owners, and helping to register unregistered dogs.

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