The Christchurch City Council (Otautahi) group that will decide on whether a person deserves to be helped from the street to a home, have indicated that if a person wants a house, they would give up their dog.  To a lot of the homeless, who have had rough events in their lives, this dog is their best friend.  Their reason for waking up in the morning, and their why.  To make them give up their dog to get a house shows lack of understanding of where these people are at.  Men that I know of have chosen to live on the street rather than give up their dog.  That says something. We ask that the powers that be show some empathy and mature understanding and change their requirment.