Hamilton dog owners able to register their pooches online

Hamilton dog owners will soon be able to register their pooches on the Hamilton City Council website.

The new online dog registration service on www.hamilton.co.nz goes live from midday Monday (18 June), enabling users to renew annual dog registrations, register new dogs, and pay registration fees via the website.

Council Chief Information Officer Eion Hall said the new service was jointly developed over recent months by Hamilton City Council and Rotorua District Council, to provide improved service to customers.

“More and more of our customers expect to be able to do business with us online – this new online dog registration function is the next step in delivering on these expectations and providing exceptional customer service,” he said.

Animal Education and Control Manager Fiona Sutton said with around 10,300 registered dogs in Hamilton and annual dog registrations due by 15 July 2012, the new online service will provide convenience for dog owners at this busy time of year.

“For a lot of dog owners it mightn’t be convenient to visit the Council building on Garden Place or the Animal Education and Control Centre on Ellis St to register their dogs. These options will still be available, however the new online service means owners can now opt to take care of registering and updating dog registration records on our website at a time and place that is convenient to them,” she said.

All dogs registered online before 30 June 2012 will go in to a draw to win a prize to the value of $500.
The new dog registration function is one of a number of new online services to be introduced to Hamilton City Council’s website in the coming months, following the site’s launch in April.

Other online services currently available and found in the ‘Do It Online’ section (under the ‘Our Services’ banner) include online rate payments, parking infringement payments, a clubs and organisations register, cemetery records and a list of dogs currently held at the Animal Education and Control Centre.

In May www.hamilton.co.nz was awarded Best Redevelopment Council Website at the 2012 Association of Local Government Information Management (ALGIM) Web Awards.