How to be a good dog owner

A dog owner has many responsibilities. Legally you are required to care for your pet and make sure it gets enough food, water, shelter, exercise and proper care and attention. You also need to keep your dog under control at all times so it won’t cause problems for anyone else.

There are five internationally recognised freedoms for animals and following these will help you to be a good dog owner, they are:

  1. Proper and sufficient food and water
  2. adequate shelter
  3. the opportunity to display normal patterns of behaviour
  4. protection from, and rapid diagnosis of, any significant injury or disease
  5. being handled in a way that minimises the likelihood of unreasonable or unnecessary pain or distress.

A checklist of good dog ownership

Make sure your dog is:

  • Registered and microchipped, unless exempt
  • properly fed, watered, exercised, housed and cared for
  • kept under the direct control of a person, or confined in a way that means they cannot leave the property they are being kept on without you
  • muzzled and leashed at all times in public if it is classified as either dangerous or menacing.

Take steps to make sure your dog does not:

  • injure, endanger, intimidate or distress any person or animal
  • become a nuisance through persistent, loud barking or howling
  • damage or endanger any property belonging to another person

Make sure you:

  • Tell us about any dog address or ownership change
  • comply with the laws set out in the Dog Control Act 1996 and all regulations and bylaws.

More information on your responsibilities below.

1 March 2023

Animal welfare resource

Getting your dog registered

Register before 3 months old 

All dogs over the age of 3 months ordinarily kept in the district must be registered with Southland District Council. It is an offence to keep a dog older than 3 months which is unregistered. On conviction, a court may impose a fine of up to $3,000. When registering a dog, it is an offence to make any written statement knowing it to be false. On conviction, a court may impose a fine of up to $3,000.

Register your dog.

Showing your dog is registered

Replacement discs and collars may be obtained from us if the current one has been lost or stolen.

Any dog not wearing a collar with a current registration label or disc attached will, until the contrary is proved, be treated as unregistered. If it is on land or premises other than its owner’s, or in any public place, the dog may be seized and impounded.

Refundable fees

If the fee for the registration of a dog is paid and that dog dies, a refund will be made on request as follows:

  • Where a dog dies before the commencement of the year, the full fee will be refunded
  • where the dog dies during the year, 1/12th of the annual fee for each complete month remaining in the registration year after the date of application for a refund will be refunded.

Changes to dogs and/or dog ownership

Changes relating to your dog or ownership can be made on the Update dog owner details page on this website.  

If ownership changes, both the previous owner and the new owner must, within 14 days, give written notice to Southland District Council or other council, along with the residential address of the new owner and the address where the dog will be kept. It is an offence not to comply with this requirement. On conviction, a court may impose a fine of up to $500.

If the owner’s address is changed within the District, the owner must, within 14 days, give written notice to Southland District Council.

If any dog is transferred to and kept in the district of another territorial authority for one month or more, the owner must, within 6 weeks of the transfer, give written notice to both territorial authorities, setting out the address where the dog will be kept. It is an offence not to comply with this requirement. On conviction, a court may impose a fine of up to $500.