A fourth dog shelter will soon open its doors in Auckland. Photo: Stuff / LDR
A new animal shelter will be in place in south Auckland to help ease the pressure on three other Auckland Council-owned facilities.
Auckland's three other shelters reported being full or overcapacity in the last financial year, with thousands of dogs impounded.
According to the council's Animal Management latest annual report, work on the new facility in Pukekohe was underway.
The new animal shelter, which was leased out to the Waikato Council for their use, was undertaking some upgrades and renovation work to be ready to house animals.
It will add to the three other shelters in Silverdale, Manukau and Henderson.
Extensive renovations were also in progress at the three main shelters to increase capacity, and to improve the health and safety of the shelter staff.
The report revealed there were 8306 dogs impounded in 2023-2024 period in the three animal shelters in Auckland - an increase of 1710 from the previous year.
This caused the shelters to operate at full capacity for almost the entire year, and for a large part of the year they were operating far above their capacity.
Animal Management manager Elly Waitoa, in an earlier interview, said it was clear many people were struggling to look after their dogs properly.
"Shelter staff work hard to find homes for unclaimed dogs that pass temperament tests, but a high number of dogs coming through our shelters have behaviour issues that mean they are not safe for rehoming," Waitoa said.
"This, combined with the sheer number of dogs going unclaimed, has sadly meant more dogs have been euthanised than in previous years."
The rate of impounded dogs claimed by their owners was only 43 percent this year, the lowest in a 10-year period.
This caused the euthanasia rate (48 percent) to be higher than the claim rate for the first time since Auckland Animal Management became a regional service in 2014.
Chair of the regulatory and safety committee Josephine Bartley said Animal Management staff were under huge pressure to find room in shelters.
"The role of keeping Aucklanders safe from harm is getting harder every year for our Animal Management officers and shelter staff," Bartley said.
She said they are often abused by the public for carrying out their work.
"Despite the challenges, they remain committed to their job and are always looking at new ways they can help to address Auckland's dog problems.
"I would like to commend and thank all Animal Management staff members for their efforts."
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.