Enforcement
In June 1897, Henry Menzies was put in charge of dog registrations by the Hokianga County Council, for which he received only the commission of one shilling for each dog collar sold. In 1898 he served 40 summons at Pukemiro pa (Hone Toia's village in Hauturu), where Menzies was rumoured to have said, that if the people refused to pay they would be sent to an ice bound country where their bones would crack from the cold, (probably referring to the prisons of the lower south island).
This suitably terrified the people of Te Huihuinga, some choosing to sleep in the bush out of fear of being arrested. Hone Toia intervened successfully achieving an adjournment to the summons, he then set up a meeting at Pukemiro on 28 April, inviting Seon, Constable Alexander McGilp, Menzies and others.
Read more about this topic: Dog Tax War