Wellington City Council are enhancing animal services from Monday 31 March.

Changes are coming to Moa Point Animal Shelter and Services to be more visible, responsive and improve animal welfare, ensure public safety, and help promote responsible pet ownership.

This new system will ensure a more streamlined process, focusing on responsible ownership education programmes, and having a more responsive team and proactive animal management across the city.

The four key changes for customers are:

• Moa Point Animal Shelter will no longer be accessible for drop-ins or drop-offs. Registered dog owners will be contacted by an animal control officer to make an appointment to collect impounded dogs and confirm release fees. If you are missing your dog, call the Council’s Contact Centre on 499 4444 and they will pass your details on to Animal Services.
• Moa Point Animal Shelter will no longer accept cash payments. EFTPOS is available for customers that visit after making an appointment.
• Wellington City Council Animal Services will no longer accept surrendered dogs/pets for rehoming. Customers are encouraged to contact other shelters/rehoming organisations in Wellington.

Council’s Animal Control Officers (ACO) are enforcement officers by law under the Dog Control Act 1996 and its amendments.

The Animal Services function primarily deals with animal-related compliance and enforcement, with a particular focus on public safety and education.

During business hours, ACOs will be on the road and patrolling for most of the workday, making it easier for them to respond to a variety of reports as they come in. Afterhours, the on-call ACO will only be deployed to urgent incidents.

The 13,346 registered dog owners will be notified of the changes – which also apply to other domestic animals and wildlife.

There will be no additional cost to the current service provision.

Check out wellington.govt.nz/dogs-and-other-animals for more information.

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