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Dog Control Act 1996

Registration and registration fees

36: Application for registration

You could also call this:

"Registering Your Dog: How to Sign Up Your Pet with the Council"

If you own a dog, you must apply to register it with the territorial authority where the dog lives. You need to do this by the first day of every registration year, unless the dog is very young. If your dog is three months or less, you must register it before it gets older.

You have to fill out the application form and sign it. The territorial authority will give you a copy of your application and information about your responsibilities as a dog owner, including what is said in sections 52 and 54.

They will also give you a copy of their policy, which is made under section 10. If you get a dog that is not registered, you must apply to register it as soon as possible or before it is three months old, whichever is later.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM375150.

Topics:
Government and voting > Local councilsHousing and property > Land use
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36Application for registration

  1. Except as provided in subsections (2) and (3), every person who owns a dog shall make an application to the territorial authority in whose district the dog is ordinarily kept to register the dog not later than the first day of every registration year.

  2. Every person who owns a dog classified as a working dog under paragraph (b)(ii) of the definition of working dog in section 2 must identify the dog accordingly in the application to register the dog.

  3. Where a dog is of the age of 3 months or less, the application to register the dog shall be made before the dog attains the age of 3 months.

  4. Where an unregistered dog is purchased or otherwise acquired, the application to register the dog shall be made forthwith or before the day on which the dog attains the age of 3 months, whichever is the later.

  5. Every application to register a dog shall be made in the prescribed form and shall be signed by the owner of the dog.

  6. The territorial authority shall supply every owner from whom it has received an application form with—

  7. a copy of the application form or a statement setting out—
    1. the obligations of the owner under sections 52 and 54; and
      1. any other obligations imposed on the owner; and
        1. such other information (if any) relating to the administration of this Act as the territorial authority considers desirable; and
        2. a copy of the policy for the time being in force under section 10.

          Compare
          • 1982 No 42 s 36
          • 1990 No 27 s 43
          Notes
          • Section 36(1A): inserted, on , by section 16 of the Dog Control Amendment Act 2006 (2006 No 23).
          • Section 36(3): amended, on , by section 16 of the Dog Control Amendment Act 2004 (2004 No 61).