Hurunui folk are barking mad about pooches
Hurunui is the dog capital of New Zealand it seems, with the small South Island district boasting the most registered pooches per 1000 people in the country.
Internal Affairs figures show Hurunui has a whopping 421 dogs for every 1000 people, far in front of Southland, with 380.
More densely populated areas have fewer dogs per capita, with Wellington City recording the lowest number of a mere 58 dogs per 1000 people.
The figures also show labrador retrievers are by far the most popular registered dog breed in New Zealand.
Huntaways and border collies are the second and third most popular breeds, which can likely be attributed to the sheer size of our rural community.
Labradors are great family dogs.
Trudy Warmerdam
Hurunui is a North Canterbury farming district and stretches from the east coast to the Main Divide. The ministry’s figures show there were 5451 dogs in 2020 and a population of about 12,950 people.
And while Wellington City had 12,220 dogs, compared to its population of 211,200, the number per capita was far less than Hurunui.
Auckland has the most dogs with 106,332 but its population of more than 1.6 million people dwarfs that number.
The figures come after Bella and Charlie were voted the top two dog names for 2020.
An informal survey conducted by Wellington City Council asked respondents to vote on their favourites on everything from best audiobooks to favourite dog names.
Labradors were voted as the “top dog”, followed by cavalier king charles spaniels and border collies.
Wellington Labrador and Retriever Club secretary Trudy Warmerdam said labradors had long been a popular pet choice.
“Labradors are great family dogs . . . they’re great for anything really, guide dogs, hunting, duck shooting, guard dogs,” she said. “They’re the most popular family dog because they’re so good with kids.”
Although Wellington was a dense city, Warmerdam said the access to beaches and hiking trails made it an ideal home for labradors.