Apply for a multiple dog licence

A special licence is required if a person wishes to keep more than two dogs on a property, regardless of the number of dog owners. Applications are considered on a case-by-case basis and the Council may impose conditions or restrictions.

A multiple dog licence is not required within areas zoned Rural by the District Plan.

Apply for a multiple dog licence here

You can apply online through licencing in the online payments page or forms are available to fill out at the Bluff Service Centre at 98 Gore St, Bluff, or Te Hīnaki – Civic Building at 101 Esk St, Invercargill. A $47 application fee applies.

As part of the application, we will check your dog ownership history. This includes any customer service request against you and/or your dog for discrepancies such as wandering, infringements, barking complaints, attacks, rushing and intimidating. We may talk with people in your neighbourhood and seek their input.

We will also check the microchip status of your dog/s, how long you have been a dog owner, and your registration payment history.

Once completed your history check is complete, we will make the decision to processed more with your application.

If we decide not to proceed you will hear from us and we will inform you of the reason why would not proceed.

If we decide to proceed the next step is a property inspection. This is where we may speak with people in your neighbourhood. Here, we will check the standards of your property and fencing. Fencing must be up to a standard to contain the type of dog/s you own. There must be free access to a door of the house when your dog is outside.

A condition of a multiple dog licence is letting Council know when you shift property, in which instance we will need to complete a new property check, free of charge.

Applying for this multiple dog licence can be done at any time.

Council will let you know how many dogs you can keep on the property after they have been to inspect the property. If you decide at a later date you would like more dogs, you will need to talk with the Animal Services team to discuss.

Council has the right to revoke your licence if problems arise or we receive complaints that are substantiated. If your licence is revoked you must remove all dogs except two from your property. It will be at Council discretion if or when you may apply again.

Multiple dog fee: Where more than five dogs are owned by any owner, that owner may have their total dog fees capped if the Council is satisfied that all of the Dog Control Act 1996 and Council requirements have been met.