The Pukekohe shelter opened last year, to help ease the pressure on Auckland Council’s other three dog shelters.
Photo: Supplied / LDR
An Auckland councillor is calling on dog owners to be more responsible, as the region marks the first-year anniversary of its newest animal shelter.
The Pukekohe Adoption and Education Centre opened last March, to help ease the pressure on Auckland Council’s other shelters in Manukau, Henderson and Silverdale which were almost always at capacity.
The Pukekohe centre, which can take up to 40 dogs at a time, takes in unclaimed dogs from the council’s three animal shelters, to train and prepare them for forever homes.
Since it opened, 222 dogs have been adopted and a further 29 transferred to trusted rescue partners.
Regulatory and Safety Committee chair councillor Josephine Bartley said that while the milestone is worth celebrating, the centre exists because of an ongoing problem that still needs fixing.
“The facility has allowed council to care for more animals, but it should not be seen as the solution to roaming and uncontrolled dogs,” Bartley said.
“This centre has allowed us to safely house and rehome more dogs, and that’s something to be proud of.”
Since it opened, 222 dogs have been adopted and a further 29 transferred to trusted rescue partners.
Photo: RNZ / Nick Monro
The Maungakiekie Tamaki councillor said Auckland wouldn’t need animal shelters if dog owners took better care of their pets.
“We shouldn’t need facilities like this on the scale we do. Too many dogs are roaming, breeding and ending up in council care because their owners haven’t taken responsibility.”
According to recent council figures, all animal shelters were currently operating at full capacity and the number of dogs impounded was increasing year on year.
Since March 2025 to February 2026, there have been 10,189 impoundments.
It was 9724 for the same period the previous year.
Bartley said dog owners needed to step up.
In Animal Management’s 2025 report, Auckland’s known dog population as of June that year was 131,123.
That was a 3.3 percent decline from the previous year, which council attributed to an extensive campaign to address unregistered dogs in Auckland.
The number of registered dogs reached 115,869, representing 88.4 percent of the total known dog population.
Unknown dogs remained a problem, with only 40 percent of impounded dogs known to council. Only 32 percent of these were registered.
“Desex them. Register them. Keep them contained. Train them. These are basic responsibilities and they make our communities safer for everyone, including the dogs themselves.”
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.