The Alaskan-based couple planning a dogsled touring business in Roxburgh intend to spend $5000 per dog transporting the animals home to New Zealand.
The Central Otago District Council's hearing panel this week considered Fleur and Curt Perano's application to house up to 30 huskies on a rural property near Roxburgh, a proposal deemed "intensive farming" within 2km of an urban area.
The panel reserved its decision.
Mrs Perano said the dogs cost between $500 and $1800 and would cost $5000 each to bring home, with the process taking up to six months.
The couple planned to transport 10 dogs initially.
In response to a question from the panel, she said the dogs would not be noisy on the Roxburgh East property and would be "content" because they were well-exercised and trained - "we put a lot of mileage on them."
The couple were still competing with sled teams overseas and training for another 1600km race.
Dogs would only be bred to replace those which had been "retired".
Those animals would be rehoused off the site and people had already shown interest in offering homes to those dogs, she said.
