Increase in dog registration

MANAWATU District’s 5000 dog owners face increased registration fees for the coming year after a council change in funding splits means owners now bear more of the costs incurred in animal control services.

The new fees - which take effect from July 1 - are $35 for neutered/spayed/working dogs and preferred owners ($20 last year) and $80 for all other dogs (up from $42). The fees apply to all dogs over three months of age registered before August 1 in any year.

Principal Environmental Officer, Colin Perrin, said the 20-80 funding split (20 percent carried by rates and 80 percent by owners) had resulted in the first basic fees increase - apart from small annual inflationary rises - for three years.
He said council’s decision meant the “public good” component involving non-dog owners, who were helping to subsidise owners’ fees, had now disappeared from the system.
“Animal control is a service that council has to provide,” he said, “and there are increasing costs within the service that it has to face.”

Mr Perrin said owners would not receive their registration tag until the full fee had been paid, but council would consider investigating, on a case-by-case basis, any circumstances of hardship regarding payment.

“If owners can pay off a portion of the fee each week for a month, that’s fine,” he said,” as they have a full month run-in to complete registration.”
Penalty fees have also risen – from $10 to $17.50 for neutered/spayed/working dogs and $21 to $40 for all other dogs – as well as general impounding fees.
Invoices for registration fees, which have to be paid by August 1, are to be sent out next week. There are about 7000 dogs in the district.

A dog registration brochure containing all relevant information for owners will be distributed on payment.