NEW WAYS FOR OLD PROBLEMS

In the past local authorities struggled to keep a lid on community discontent over pet issues. A sense of defeat hung in the MPM air.

But over the last decade, MPM professionals in Australia and New Zealand have transformed the way they work. Now, in forward-thinking municipalities, the defeatist approaches of the past are gone. These councils have renewed confidence in the enduring fundamentals of MPM.

At the same time, they have a fresh enthusiasm for innovative approaches that can strengthen and diversify a municipalityís response to MPM issues.

In this chapter, we look briefly at a selection of these innovative approaches. To be implemented, some require direct local government support. Others are delivered by private and non-profit organisations, with or without local government encouragement.

We havenít included every possible new approach, nor do we suggest that all the approaches we have included will suit each municipality.

Instead, our aim has been to give a taste of what is on offer by looking at five types of approaches:

ï helping people to be more responsible owners

ï practical community-wide approaches to MPM

ï support for PMOs and other MPM professionals

ï technological advances

ï optimising pet benefits

While most of the fundamental concepts and methods of MPM are not new, practitioners would be wrong to assume that all thatís good is already being done. There will always be ways to make the fundamentals work for us more effectively. The brief selection of innovations that follows gives a hint of the enthusiastic way the notions of creativity and continuous improvement are changing the face of MPM.