Registered dog numbers in region steady at 25,628

DOG registrations in Southland remained steady in 2018, statistics from the region’s three councils show.

Information released under the Official Information Act (OIA) there were a total of 25,628 registered dogs in Southland.

Both the Southland District Council’s and Invercargill City Council’s dog registrations remained on par with 2017 numbers at 13,500 and 8662 respectively.

The Gore district showed a slight increase of 138 registrations last year compared with 2017.

Southland District Council environmental health manager Michael Sarfiati said almost half the registered dogs within the council’s area were classified as working dogs.

That was because of the ‘‘nature of the district, which is a lot of agricultural activity and that requires a lot of working dogs’’.

A spokesman for the Gore District Council said many of the 3466 registered dogs in the area were classified as working dogs and farmers often kept several dogs on their properties.

The Southland District Council had the cheapest registration cost for nonworking dogs, the top registration fee being $90 before any discounts were applied.

Gore had the most expensive at $120.

However, at $25, Gore had the cheapest working dog registration cost.

Working dogs in the Southland District Council’s area cost $30 to register, and in Invercargill they cost $35. A SMALL yarding of prime lambs was offered this week in the first sale of the year, and they continued to sell well. Demand for prime ewes was on par with last year, and they also sold well. Store lambs continued to sell very well, with no

significant drop in price on recent sales.