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Dog Control Policy 2004 |
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Have You Found a Dog? | ||
The Animal Control team is committed to promoting better care and control of dogs, providing public education within schools and community groups, responding to dog control complaints, impounding dogs, maintaining and providing pound facilities and enforcing the Hastings District Council Animal Bylaws. The bylaws include the Dog Control Bylaw, Animals Bylaw and Stock Droving Bylaw.
Dog owner obligations
As a dog owner, there are certain obligations that you need to meet. They are:
- All dogs over the age of three months must be registered in accordance with the Dog Control Act 1966
- You need to make sure that your dog is kept under adequate supervision and that it has all the necessities provided to keep it healthy and happy including adequate shelter, clean water and food
- Any person in charge of a dog for more than 72 hours is deemed to be responsible for the dog
- As a dog owner, you are obliged to ensure that your dog does not cause any danger or ill-treatment towards other dogs, people, stock, poultry, domestic animals and protected wildlife. If so they may be seized or destroyed immediately
- Dog owners must make sure that their dogs are kept under control by being on a lead at all times especially when walking in public areas
- In the Hastings urban residential, a licence is required to keep more than two dogs
- Where to owner of any dog changes address, or if the dog dies, you must give notice in writing of the change within 14 days
Simple tips to keeping your dog happy
If your dog is unhappy he might bark and annoy your neighbours. So before you go to work each day, check that your dog has everything it needs.
Checklist:
- Has your dog had enough food?
- Has your dog had plenty of exercise?
- Does your dog have plenty of clean, fresh water?
- Does your dog have shade from the sun and shelter from rain and wind?
Frequently asked questions
Q. Can a Dog Control Officer remove a dog from its
property?
A. Yes - in exceptional cases a Dog Control
Officer has the power to remove a dog from the property where
it is kept.
Reasons my be any of the following:
- Dog threatening the safety of people or other animals
- Without access to food or water
- Subject to a formal order
- Subject to a court order
Q. How may dogs am I allowed on my property?
A. No more than two dogs over the age of
three months can be kept on any urban residential property
unless there has been a licence issued from the Council.
Q. Does a Dog Control Officer have the right to enter
private property?
A. Yes - if a Dog Control Officer has reasonable
grounds to suspect that an offence is being committed he/she
may enter that property at any reasonable time. The Dog Control
Officer may also call people for assistance and these people
are entitled to enter that same property.
Contact
Contact an Animal Control Officer at the Council if you have
any queries regarding animals on 
resource@hdc.govt.nz
or phone 06 878 0500.
