Andrew Dickens Afternoons

Christchurch City Council has gone to the dogs in the opinion of many dog owners in the city.
They’re furious after being told they must muzzle their "menacing" pets even inside their own house.
The council's sent a letter to 159 owners of dogs that have been classified as menacing.  It’s based on either their breed or their record of menacing behaviour in the past.
The letter says the animals must be muzzled at all times unless secured in a cage or vehicle.
"[That] includes on your own property and includes within the dwelling house,"
The group Christchurch Bull Breed Rescue exploded with anger on their facebook page. They said.
Up until today, I have always had great pride at how well Christchurch City Council have dealt with dog and especially BSL related issues.
Now I am just angry. Actually shaking as I type this angry.
The CCC has now decided to enforce that all menacing dogs are to be muzzled all the time unless caged. That’s in your home, while chasing the ball in the backyard, while snuggled up in bed with you. All. The. Time!
Game on CCC, animal welfare lawyers work for free. Yours will cost you a packet. We will fight this every step of the way and we have a small but very loud army behind us.
They point out  Section 5 of the welfare act. An animal must be able to display natural behaviour. Licking, cleaning, playing, eating, drinking. These are just a few “natural behaviours”.
The Council has taken legal advice but it appears that the dog owners have a point with that.  Besides animal welfare laws there’s also the concept of freedom.  How a council could think they could enforce the muzzling on private property is beyond me.
But before we start council bashing let’s look at why the council has brought the idea in.  They’re responding to an explosion of dog attacks.  Since March 2017, the council had been asked to investigate 234 complaints about dogs attacking a person, stock, poultry or domestic animals
Now the dog owners say that’s the fault of owners, not the breeds and that’s probably true.  I heard a dog control officer say the owners of dangerous dogs are 10 times worse than their animals. The dogs are feral because the owners are feral.
But I’d like to ask the owners of the dogs who are the usual suspects what you’re doing as a community to reign in the attacks.  Over 200 attacks in one city in one year is just not acceptable.  It’s a canine crime wave. It’s other people’s freedoms that are being attacked by dogs
So to the owners of menacing breeds I, say this. Just as you are responsible for the behaviour of your dogs, you’re also responsible for the irresponsible owners of your breeds.  Sort them out.
Because until you do, the rest of us who have no desire for these breeds will be forced to attack the symptom of the problem, which is the dogs, as well as the cause, which is the owners.

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Caller to the show Mark responds to talk of a sugar tax. Is sugar really the issue with New Zealand's increasing obesity rates?
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Is it OK to be that person who straddles the dotted line effectively blocking others from using the passing lane when traffic is crawling on the open road?
Some say YES as it helps the flow of traffic by avoiding another bottleneck where the lanes merge. Others say NO – you are not the law!
The battle has been raging on Facebook traffic safety pages following the Easter weekend.
What do you say? 
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Andrew Dickens sparked a fierce debate on his show this afternoon by suggesting that hot cross buns should be sold only in the week of Easter.
He says that the cross on the bun is a religious symbol, and that it doesn't make any sense for them to be sold outside of the Easter period.
He suggested that supermarkets and bakers could make the spicy, fruity buns without the cross so that they make more sense. 
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The Ministry for Primary Industries has confirmed that all cattle on properties infected with the cattle disease Mycoplasma bovis will be culled.
The culling will begin today, and 28 active infected properties, 22 of them with cattle remaining on them.
It comes after farmers called The Country before the news was officially announced,  many of them extremely upset by the news.
The disease was first confirmed in July last year.
Since then MPI has introduced milk testing, surveillance programmes and inspections to cattle crossing the Cook Strait to combat the disease spreading.
The Country's Rowena Duncum told Andrew Dickens it's been a long road to reach a decision on eradication.
"No one wants to be culling animals on this magnitude in any way shape or form, but if that's what it will take to eradicate this disease, that's what they are prepared to do."
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Ali Whitton and Oliver Vetter from Wellington duo LOST BiRD, who are opening for Ed Sheeran in Auckland, speak with Andrew Dickens.
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Caller Ross speaks with Andrew Dickens about the man who beat his baby son around his face and head then jammed a solid object in his mouth causing significant injuries has been sentenced to 9 months home detention.
READ MORE: Caller Nikki on man who got home detention for bashing baby
Ross says he has some sympathy for the man.
LISTEN ABOVE AS CALLER ROSS SPEAKS WITH ANDREW DICKENS

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A man who beat his baby son around his face and head then jammed a solid object in his mouth causing significant injuries has been sentenced to 9 months home detention.
READ MORE: Caller Ross has some sympathy for man who bashed baby
Caller Nikki speaks to Andrew Dickens about the incident.
LISTEN ABOVE AS CALLER NIKKI SPEAKS WITH ANDREW DICKENS

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So Barack Obama is on our soil. Today he’s playing golf at Kauri Cliffs in Northland.  It was an early start for the former president after arriving just after midnight last night.  He was up and away on a helicopter at 8am.
So that bodes well for his golfing buddies including Sir John Key. Nothing like a bit of jet lag to add to your handicap.
Tomorrow sees the big function on the Auckland waterfront with 1000 invited guests.  But no media. Invited or covering. That’s because Obama is sidelined and they don’t want any slip of the tongue causing international ructions.
So if the event is all about US and New Zealand relations, you wonder how anything will get publicity further abroad.  Let’s be frank. This is an Air New Zealand promo organised by Sir John Key, who coincidentally is on the Air New Zealand board.
It’s no wonder they’re playing at Kauri Cliffs and not a Paraparaumu where Tiger Woods played because there’s no way Barack Obama could fly into the Kapiti Coast this week.
There’s been much said that this visit will do wonder for New Zealand’s profile, partly because Obama has 16 million followers on Instagram so any picture of New Zealand he takes will ricochet around the world.
So this morning I checked out Obamas Insta.  The last picture he posted was on Valentines Day with Michelle at some unknown location. In fact, over the past year, he’s posted no pictures of any place he visited.  Same on Facebook. I think the tourism boost from Obama has been overblown 
Here’s another reality check.  Obama has just spent 2 days in Singapore but I haven’t seen the world’s media covering the crap out of it. He met with Prime Minister Lee and some emerging leaders but nothing of substance was reported from them other than it happened
I expect the same from his visit to Jacinda Ardern.  It will just be an opportunity for him to tell Jacinda to keep her chin up and for the Prime Minister to snap another picture for the scrapbook.
Barack Obama is powerless.  Voluntarily mute about real issues in his own country though he must be seething at the Trump administration’s systematic dismantling of all he tried to achieve in his 8 years. 
So enjoy your jaunt Mr President.  But it’s irrelevant and no more significant than going to the zoo to look at a rare and endangered animal and marvel that it eats and sleeps.
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On the day Greenpeace presented a petition to Parliament Nikki called Andrew Dickens to express her opposition to oil exploration.
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