I received the following email, but have been a bit tardy in posting I’m afraid. It relates to the 2009 Draft Dog Policy for Wellington, New Zealand.

Hi everyone,
Doug Wilkins here. I am founding an organisation, the working title of which is an acronym, DAWGS, short for Dogs Are Wellington’s Secret. I am recruiting you and your abundant talents.

I, for one, would like to see numerous improvements in the policy, but my primary emphasis is a rollback of the banishment of dogs from the city centre. As a corollary to this, it only makes sense that dogs be allowed back onto our public transit. No doubt many of you have other useful suggestions for improving the relationship between this wonderful city and its most wonderful pedestrians.

Preparatory to the city council’s review of the current dog policies of Wellington, I am seeking the following:

1. More people, dog owners and non-owners, to participate.
2. In particular, I think it is important to find people who are both willing to speak in front of the city council on or after 10th September. (NB: I have a background in persuasive speech and debate instruction and would work with you on your oral submission if that is of interest to you)
3. People who can identify, and then keep in touch with, city council members who are sympathetic to the general cause of improving the dog policies. And, conversely, it would help to know which council members, if any, are deaf to our discourse — no point in wasting time and energy.
4. People who can identify public officials (police, public transit officials, planners, lawyers, animal control officers) who are sympathetic to the general cause of improving the dog policies.
5. People who can curb their anger during this time. We want to win, not merely score broadsides.
6. People who can advance the cause via the Internet. We need a Facebook page, and so forth.
7. Pursuant to #1, non-dog owners who can contribute to any of the above because statistically they are significant. Of particular interest to us are people who would own dogs if they could (i.e. people in council housing, students, renters, elderly people) and who therefore welcome dogs in the public areas of the city and surrounding areas.
8. People who have lived in more dog-friendly cities, both inside and outside of New Zealand. Their testimony will be most persuasive, of course.
9. People who can recruit more of the above. We need pure weight of numbers to advance the cause of dogs and their owners.

[Leave a comment below to let Doug know of your interest.]

Cheers,
Doug