It’s been a week since the results of most of the local body elections in New Zealand were announced.
It’s no secret that voter turnouts for these elections are declining with many voters not bothering to cast a vote. I’m in the privileged position of traveling around the Christchurch City, Waimakariri and Selwyn districts and learning from my clients about the issues they face, asking them who were the candidates in their area…Some said outright they wouldn’t bother to vote. Others were more interested in certain issues but with no ringing endorsements of any single candidate.
I share their disenchantment for councils at both the district and regional levels. The jargon, the lack of progress in many areas, and consultations that seems stacked against the average submitter abound.
This election season, my greyhound Sox launched his own informal campaign for mayor (because of his species he was not allowed to enroll as a candidate for the ballot). Each of Sox’s post were written as a conversation between us and taking his simple and child-like understanding of issues to shine a spotlight on issues that are important to us and the dogs that live amongst us.
Some were tongue in cheek, others a bit more serious. But at least we did our part to raise awareness and to encourage people to vote.
This is a compilation of Sox’s many campaign announcements.
Kathleen Crisley is Fear-Free certified dog massage therapist and canine fitness trainer. She has a particular passion for working with dogs and their families to ensure injury prevention and quality of life. She specialises in working with anxious and emotionally damaged dogs. Her mobile practice, The Balanced Dog, is based in Christchurch, New Zealand
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