Toby the jack russell terrier signed up on the electoral roll with his paw print and received a voter's card for the general election, his owner says.

Peter Rhodes, who filled in the form as a joke, says the successful enrolment highlights the need for more careful scrutiny.

But the Electoral Enrolment Centre is not amused and says it will ask the police to take action - and it has now questioned some elements of Mr Rhodes' story.

When Mr Rhodes, an aviation safety specialist, received his electoral roll confirmation forms this year an extra form was supplied for people who had been "inadvertently overlooked". At the time, he was frustrated with the Queenstown Lakes District Council's regulatory contractor, CivicCorp, and with the "bureaucratic nonsense" he had to deal with while trying to subdivide his property.

"So I thought, for the hell of it, I'd put Toby's name on it, and sign it, and see what happens."

Mr Rhodes says he gave his dog the full name of Toby Russel Rhodes, occupation: rodent exterminator, and signed a squiggle, accompanied by a paw print, for a signature. He gave Toby the birth date of July 4, 1977 - his age in "human years" (his real age is four years). He expected Toby's application to be rejected.

(continued on the page above)

If that does not make sense, forgive me. I'm drunk.

If that does not make sense, forgive me. I'm drunk.