Dog of a service
I would like to gauge public concern over the refusal by Energex to read electricity meters where they think there is a dog.
They have a key to the gate of our acreage property. We have a harmless dog that does not bark.
We have never had a complaint about the dog. Do we all have to get our dogs put down to get the meter read from now on?
When we asked for help, their response was to get your meter shifted up to the gate. How many thousands would that cost?
Could you do a self-read, they asked. We have the old clock type meter and have had two tries and have got it wrong both times.
They give a date of a likely read with two days either side, five days over all. They put a card in the mail box on the first day that said "unsure if dog restrained". That means that they never saw a dog, never opened the gate, or drove down the driveway.
People have been coming on to properties for about 100 years to read meters so what has changed all of a sudden?
With all the computer records surely they could give you a day, not a five-day bracket? If you had a certain day you could sit at the gate and hold their hand and walk them down to the meter.
If there was a problem dog one would not expect them to enter. It is those who have attack dogs that have caused this and the rest of us have to suffer.
Because of this the estimated bill was 150 per cent higher than the same time last year and the bill with the incorrect self read was 400 per cent higher than last year.
Most residents in this area have dogs so maybe we can get something done as a group. Phone 0402257140.
- C. Zropf, Jimboomba
A woolly affair
Wool Week is the ideal time for everyone to consider the brutality of the wool industry and resolve to use alternative fabrics.
The appalling cruelty in Australian shearing sheds was revealed by a PETA expose in 2014, and helped lead to the first-ever convictions of shearers anywhere in the world for cruelty to animals.
The wool industry told us this was a wake-up call and vowed to stamp out abuses. Subsequent video exposes (accessible at PETA.org.au) reveal nothing has changed.
Workers continue to beat, stamp on, kick, mutilate, and throw sheep around. The best way to stop this violence is by refusing to buy the industry's products.
- M. Bekhechi, PETA
