Campaign aims to sniff out unregistered dogs

Owners of unregistered dogs in Christchurch and Banks Peninsula are being given one final opportunity to get their dogs’ paperwork in order.

Is your pooch registered?

All dogs within the Christchurch City Council boundaries are legally required to be registered but each year some dog owners fail to fulfil their obligations.

The Council’s Animal Management Team are about to launch a campaign aimed at identifying those dogs in the city that are unregistered but want to give owners one final opportunity to legalise their dog(s).

“Every dog owner has a legal responsibility to register their dogs by July 1 each year and approximately 35,000 dogs have already been registered,’’ said Council Animal Management Team Leader Mark Vincent.

“We know that there are some dogs in our area that have still not registered and shortly we’ll be launching a campaign to identify those dogs,’’ Mr Vincent said. “ That campaign will involve animal management officers going door-to-door in randomly selected suburbs.’’

Anyone found with an unregistered dog could face a $300 fine as well as being required to register their dog.

“The dog registration fees help cover the cost of dog control throughout the city and it is only fair that all dog owners pay their share. If you own a dog and it’s not currently registered then I would advise you to make contact with us immediately so we can rectify the situation if you want to avoid a fine,’’ Mr Vincent said.

For more information or to register an unregistered dog, visit the Animal Management Team section of the Christchurch City Council website or phone 941 8999.