Photos: Caters News Agency
Toolmaker, Andrew Taylor, has created this amazing 'stick library' for dogs, and it has become an overnight sensation with local dogs and the international media!
The 59-year-old from New Zealand was trimming trees outside of his home in Kaiapoi when he was struck with an amazing idea. He realised that all the little sticks that he was cutting from the tree would be loved by local dogs, as he has his own dog Bella who lives with him and who loves to chase sticks.
He then set to work cutting and smoothing the branches to make them safe to play with. Pointed sticks, and sticks that break easily, can actually be very dangerous to dogs. He then created a lovely box to hold the sticks and engraved it with the words 'stick library'. Just like humans do with a book at a library, dogs can take out a stick and then return it when they are finished.
Soon it was all complete, and he took the box filled with sticks to a newly-opened park. He and his daughter had decided to post the opening of the stick-library online, and as many as 50 people and their dogs turned up, one person even turned up with their cat.
The media attention started after Andy's daughter, Tayla Reece, put the pictures of the box online, along with dogs playing with the sticks.
Tayla said in the online post:
"While trimming the trees, my dad found himself with a lot of dead branches, and knowing from experience how hard it can be to find a good stick, and that the new dog park was opening soon, he had the idea that he would save them and put them in some kind of box. When the park opened on November 30, mum and dad took Bella and sure enough there were no good sticks. Dad is the type of guy that is always thinking of things to make, so the next day he found a suitable crate and made the sign for the top. He decided to call it the stick library because it implied that you return the stick once you're finished with it."
"As people started to arrive there was a disbelief of how simple the idea was, but it's one of those ideas no one had thought of. All the dog owners appreciate it as they all have experienced the 'good stick search' which isn't always fruitful, it's an idea that just makes sense to them."
[h/t: METRO]
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