Wandering dogs push pound capacity to it limits

Rotorua District Council (RDC) is urging dog owners to be responsible following an influx of wandering pets being picked up by animal control officers.

Fifty-one impounded dogs are currently at the city’s Dog Pound on State Highway 30, just short of the pound’s full capacity of 54 dogs.

RDC animal control supervisor Kevin Coutts says animal control staff have been busy over the last few weeks dealing with roaming dogs, barking dogs and dog attacks.

“Our pound facilities are being pushed to capacity as a result of dog owners not being responsible. It’s not the dog’s fault - if you leave a gate open, a dog can and will wander. We’ve got four dogs here that have been impounded more than four times.”

Mr Coutts says while animal control officers are pro-active in re-homing as many dogs as possible the appalling reality is that between 700 and 900 dogs have to be put down each year.

“We re-homed almost 100 dogs last year and we’re aiming to top that this year. We hate having to put down any dog.”

Anyone interested in adopting a dog can check out www.homelesshounds.co.nz