Max the dog with his blue tag. PHOTO/ROBYN MILLS
KAREN COLTMAN
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The advertising jingle goes that Wairarapa dogs now find last year’s yellow registration tags to be out of fashion and have started howling for a blue tag this year “thank you”.
Subsequently, 11,284 dogs are now registered across Wairarapa for the 2020/21 year.
With plenty of advertising, radio jingles, and the threat of paying more if not registering a dog on time, most people got their dogs the desired blue tag.
Masterton dog owners had 90 per cent of dogs expected to be registered by owners on the books by the official deadline of July 31.
It recorded 5553 registered on time and 5649 by last Friday.
Last year, it had 98 per cent of dogs registered with 5824 canine pets tagged.
The Masterton District Council decided this year to give owners until August 31 to register the dogs without penalty.
A council spokesperson said the council “doesn’t want extra money, it just wants dogs registered”.
So far, 200 more dogs are registered now than the same time last year.
South Wairarapa District Council had 2950 dogs on the books, which was 362 fewer than registered last year.
Planning and environment group manager Russell O’Leary said, on the whole, dog owners had complied well with the deadline.
“We’ve received more registrations this year than we did last year, however, we’re aware that 362 dogs registered last year haven’t been reregistered,” he said.
The council was following up with those dog owners to find out the status of the dogs.
“We want to take this opportunity to say thank you to all those who registered their dogs on time.
“We really appreciate it as the income helps fund services such dog walking facilities, impounding and returning dogs home, dealing with complaints, responding to dog attacks, and generally providing public protection from dogs,” O’Leary said.
He reminded dog owners of their responsibilities and said during covid-19 lockdown there were more complaints.
“Complaints of dog fouling increased noticeably during lockdown and this continues to be an issue.
“We’d like to remind dog owners to please clean up after their dog or risk a fine,” he said.
Carterton had more than 100 dog owners not registering their dogs on time, but some of these owners may no longer own the dogs they previously registered, they said.
It had 2634 dogs registered last year and 2585 dogs registered on time this year.
