Pigs, Pussycats and Statutory Pigeons

 Editorial

In The Storyteller, one of the many short stories written by the inimitable H.H.Munroe, there is a prince who has a park which is full of little pigs.

There are no flowers in the park, because although the prince was a lover of flowers, he also loved pigs. His gardeners had told him that he couldn't have flowers and pigs, because the pigs would eat the flowers. so he plumped for pigs. Frpom the children listening to this story 'there  was a murmer of approval at the excellence of the Prince's decision; so many people would have decided the other way.'

They certainly would in Auckland's Karaka Bay, where Piglet, a pet of one of the local residents, has been caught up in a neighbourhood dispute. Introduced to bring some joy into peoples lives and perhaps knock some corneres off tense neighbourhood relations - we quote from the local press - Piglet now finds herself the subject of neighbourly petitions and of a court order demanding her removal. Officialdom has entered the fray, waving, as is their wont, the rule book - in this case the council's bylaws. It is a fair bet that the bylaws have no subsection that covers pet pigs, the keepoing thereof. However, there are rules that refer to livestock, and council officers obviously do not accept that a pig can be loved snd cossetted like any dog or cat.

 And Karaka Bay is not the only place where rule book waving is being practised with such fundamentalist zeal. A kind soul living in the vicinity of Mount Smart has worked for many years looking after stray cats. He also picks them up and has them neutered or spayed - so they cannot proliferate further to the detriment of native fauna. It would not be unrealistic to suggest that this person was performing a community service. Not so, according to the (same) officials, who, in ordering him to desist forthwith, issued him with a notice declaring him to be a 'statutory nuisance'.

And there's more.

In Panmure there is a lady who caresa for sick and injured birds. She has been doing this voluntarily for 25 years, more recently as one of the home based centres supported by Bird Rescue. A year or so ago Auckland City presented her with an award for services rendered to the community. Today she has another document to frame alongside it. You've guessed it. According to the (same) officials, she too has become a 'statutory nuisance". 

What's the problem? There's a flock of pigeons that fly around the area and pop into the bird centre for a feed. They also took a liking to a neighbour's roof as a good place for a spot of sun-bathing. The neighbour took exception to this (not a petitioon here, just one neighbour) and blamed the lady in the bird centre, even though they are not her pigeons. She does have pigeons, pet ones that haver been her companions for many years. They are not the birds that fly around and sit on the neighbour's roof, but it is the pet pigeons that she has been ordered to do away with. Pigeons are poultry, says the rule book, and you are only allowed six hens on a section, or something equally ridiculous.

The  question is, why do they bother? Why are environmental officials increasingly allowing themselves to be used as hit-men in neighbourhood disputes? It can't be much fun for the officials any more than it is for the local citizenry upon whom they are slapping their orders.

Piers Hayman