Queenstown Lakes District Council principal enforcement officer Anthony Hall said the idea for the open day came from dog owners wanting to know more about the facility when they came to pick up impounded dogs.
"We’ve found dog owners to be genuinely interested in the pound and as it’s a community facility we thought an open day would be a great opportunity for other dog owners and the general public to come along and learn more about how animal control works in the district," he said.
"We also know there are a few people out there who have negative image of a dog pound and we want to change that," he said.
Wanaka pound is located at 162 Ballantyne Rd and is on a secured fenced site of about 3500sq m with a purpose-built run adjoining the pound building.
It caters almost exclusively for dogs, with five individual dog cages and two quarantine cages in a quarantine room, but it can also deal with stock in some circumstances.
Mr Hall said the Wanaka pound would be open from 9am until noon and animal control officers would be on hand to answer any questions and a few dogs would be there for children to pat. A second Wanaka pound open day is planned for Wednesday, January 25 from 1pm until 4pm.
Open days at the Queenstown pound, located at 2 Shotover Delta Rd, are planned for Thursday, January 26 from 1pm until 4pm and Sunday, January 29, from 9am until noon.
Mr Hall said members of the public are reminded to take advantage of the QLDC amnesty for dog registrations which finishes at the end of this month.
