Dog registration numbers are slightly down on this time last year, Dunedin City Council animal control officer Peter Hanlin says.
With the deadline for this year's registrations approaching in eight days' time, Mr Hanlin was expecting a hike in applications towards the closing date.
''The last week is fairly hectic for us,'' he said.
About 47% of the 16,800 dogs in the Dunedin area last year had been registered so far.
Mr Hanlin said the $93 registration fee covered more than just paperwork and the yellow collar tag.
''It covers wages, it covers equipment, it covers dog-park use, it covers a number of things.''
It also went towards animal control, as well as servicing dog parks and putting up and maintaining poo bag dispensers. Animal control issues such as wandering dogs were ''everyday business'', though the council had seen a rise in issues between dogs and chickens, as people had free-range chickens in their back yards.
There had also been a rise in complaints about people not picking up their dog's faeces, particularly in the John Wilson Ocean Dr area. Two dog-walkers The Star spoke to there yesterday said they often picked up dog faeces left on the ground. Others said the number of dogs and owners who enjoyed the area outweighed the amount of dog faeces left behind. There were bins and a bag dispenser at the start of the closed-off walking area on the drive, Mr Hanlin said.
Mr Hanlin wanted to remind people to register their dogs on time and that the late penalty was $46 on top of the $93 registration cost.
- by Greta Yeoman
