Residents of a suburb of Auckland, Australia are up in arms at the planned location of a refuge for companion animals of victims of domestic abuse in their area.
The pets of victims of domestic violence need a refuge of their own but my reading of the situation is that they believe that there will be noise. They were not consulted by the area’s council because the councillors decided that the animal shelter would not have any adverse effects on the environment or people and therefore the procedure for notifying the residents was not triggered.
“Like the vast majority of applications assessed by councils throughout the country, this proposal proceeded without public notification….This proposal was not deemed to have adverse effects on the environment or people, which is the trigger for notification”
– Auckland Council resource consents manager Ian Dobson
The shelter has the approval of the Women’s Refuge. Most of us know a refuge for pets of abused women is very important to ensure that abused women move out of the home where they are being abused because they often don’t for the sake of their cat or dog.
One resident believes that the local planning laws ban a building being used as an animal shelter while another believes that the noise assessment was inadequate.