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New proposals to reward responsible dog owners

Tuesday 1 May 2012, 5:43PM

By Auckland Council

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AUCKLAND

Auckland councillors this week consider two new proposals on dog registration fees, including reinstating a discount for responsible dog owners.

The proposals are included in a report to the Strategy and Finance Committee which meets on Thursday (3 May).  The committee will then make a recommendation to the Governing Body for inclusion in the Long-term Plan (2012-2022).

Around 4,400 of the almost 10,000 submissions received on the council’s draft Long-term Plan (2012-2022) related to the proposal to increase dog registration fees and remove discounts for holders of Dog Owner Licences.

“Throughout the submission process, I made it clear we would listen to the concerns of Aucklanders,” says the Mayor.

“As well as the level of increase proposed, one of the other main themes of the submissions was that there was no incentive or reward for responsible dog owners.

“We believe the new proposals will go some way to addressing these concerns although in coming up with the revised fees we also had to be mindful of the impact it would have on the overall rates,” he says.

The original proposal included in the draft Long-term Plan was:

Entire dog*                                                      $160  
Desexed dog                                                  $120   
Working farm     dog                                        $50
Superannuitants (with Community Services Card)   $50
              
The two alternative proposals being considered are:
Either:

  • A $150 registration fee for entire dogs (or $80 when Responsible Dog Owner Licence (RDOL) fee applied); and
  • A $120 registration fee for de-sexed dogs (or $80 when RDOL fee applied).

or:

  • A $145 registration fee for entire dogs (or $90 when RDOL fee applied); and
  • A $115 registration fee for de-sexed dogs (or $90 when RDOL fee applied).


Both options also propose reducing the working farm dog and superannuitant (with a Community Services Card) fees from $50 to $45 and increasing the impounding fee from $35 to $60. 

The Strategy and Finance Committee is on Thursday, 3 May at 10am.  A copy of the agenda can be viewed here.

*An entire dog is a dog that has not been desexed.