Now is the time for community.
⚠ We are now in a full scale civil defence emergency, with multiple simultaneous challenges for our response and recovery teams. ⚠
This is the time for community.
👨👩👧👦 If you can open your door and offer a meal or a cup of tea to friends and neighbours, please contact them.
💪 If you have special skills and abilities, please look around your neighbourhood and see who needs a hand. Take the initiative and work within your ability.
It's also time to stop taking any further risks. Follow the published official advice. Please do not enter flood waters. Do not attempt to perform work that puts you in danger. Do not approach downed power lines. Be particularly aware of the risk of land-slides. Please do not approach flooded rivers or viewing-platforms. Please stay out of forests and our walking tracks.
Be prepared in case your own situation becomes more challenging.
💧 If you have running water, fill up some bottles as an emergency supply. If you're dependent on your emergency supplies now, plan for how you can make them last.
A lot of our communities are in a vulnerable place right now. If you're able to help, it's time.
Take the time to read about how Cyclone Gabrielle is affecting our District, and how to report further issues at the link below.
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
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 ❤️
Would you like a free copy of our February 2025 issue?
Kia ora neighbours. We give away free copies to readers whose recipes are used in our magazine. We're still on the hunt for tomato recipes, so send your family's favourite way to use up your homegrown harvest, to: mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz. If we use it in the mag, you will receive a free copy of the mag