Owner refuses to give up dogs

Press, 29 July 1989, Page 1

Owner refuses to give up dogs

By

CLARE BARRY

Being the owner and walker of nine large dogs has made Mr Roman Raia the subject of much curiosity, and also some animosity, on the streets of Christchurch. One man threatened to shoot his dogs. Another offered to stage a fight between one of the dogs and his own. Mr Raia walks his dogs for hours each day, sometimes taking them to the Port Hills from his home in Edgeware Road. He has trained them all, and said some people out with one or two dogs created more trouble than all of his. And how does he feed Max, Chaz, Shae, Blue, Lisa, Karl, Rex, Clint and Spike? Some food is donated, he gets bones from a pig farmer whose truck he helps load with supermarket left-overs, and the rest of the food he buys. Mr Raia, from New York City, is a writer, and is on unemployment benefit at present. He is seeking permanent residence in New Zealand. He and. his New Zealand wife, Susan, have come into conflict with the Christchurch City Council, whose regulations say they can have only two dogs on their section. Mr Raia said he was unaware of these regulations when he collected his team of dogs, mostly from people who were going to have them destroyed. In the United States and England, where he had recently lived, people could have as many dogs as they wanted on their property, he said. Dogs were also allowed on buses, trains, and in some hotels. Mr Raia said some of his friends had urged him to have some of his dogs put down, but he said they were like children to him, and he would sooner shift house than destroy any of them.