1129 days ago

The decline of the Dunedin couch fire

The Team Reporter from Stuff

"I first started as a reporter in Dunedin with the Otago Daily Times in 2008, and would cover dozens of couch fires, often involving a phrase similar to 'one or two idiots'," writes Hamish McNeilly.

"Coverage included the 2009 Undie 500 riots, where bottles were thrown at firefighters, drunks surfed fire appliances, and there were many failed attempts to jump over burning couches.

But in recent years those stories have gone, ahem, dry."

Find out what's behind the decline of the Dunedin couch fire in this week's The Mish on Substack

Want to receive The Mish in your inbox? It's free! Take a look and sign up here .

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More messages from your neighbours
13 hours ago

Best way to use leftovers?

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

I'm sure you've got some excess ham at home or cold roast potatoes.

What are some of your favourite ways to use leftover food from Christmas day? Share below.

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16 days ago

⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️

The Team from SPCA New Zealand

It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:

👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️

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8 days ago

Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.

If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?

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Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
  • 61.8% Summer
    61.8% Complete
  • 36.7% Winter
    36.7% Complete
  • 1.5% Other - I'll share below
    1.5% Complete
1546 votes