{"id":623971,"date":"2026-10-08T03:50:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T03:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/623971\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T03:50:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T03:50:11","slug":"dog-owners-who-shut-animals-away-for-long-periods-face-new-fine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/623971\/","title":{"rendered":"Dog owners who shut animals away for long periods face new fine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dog owners who keep their animals shut away in cages, crates and kennels for prolonged periods will be fined $500 under new rules proposed by the Government. <\/p>\n

Under the proposal, animal welfare inspectors who find two or more signs of prolonged confinement could issue a $500 infringement notice to the dog’s owner or the person in charge. <\/p>\n

The signs of confinement included a build-up of faeces or urine, a badly damaged enclosure, injuries from an enclosure, muscle wastage, overgrown nails, fly bite dermatitis or excessive frustration. <\/p>\n

Associate Agriculture Minister Andrew Hoggard said SPCA inspectors “regularly” dealt with cases of prolonged confinement, with more than 400 complaints in 2024 and 2025. <\/p>\n

“Dogs need exercise, company and room to move. When a dog is locked in a crate or kennel day after day with no break, it misses out on all of that, and it suffers. <\/p>\n

“Those dogs can become anxious, fearful and aggressive. That’s bad for the dog, and it can put families, the public and other animals at risk too.”<\/p>\n

In 2025, the Government banned prolonged tethering<\/a>, allowing inspectors to issue $500 infringements. Noncompliant owners could also face court fines of up to $1500. <\/p>\n

Hoggard reassured farmers and other responsible dog owners that the new rules targeted only a “small minority”. <\/p>\n

“Kennelling your dogs at night, or between jobs on the farm, is normal and responsible, and these proposals don’t change that. Neither does crating a dog for toilet training, travel, vet care or a house move,” he said. <\/p>\n

“If your dogs get regular exercise and company, and have room to stand, lie down, stretch out and turn around, you have nothing to worry about.<\/p>\n

“This is about the small minority of owners who leave their dogs shut away day after day, to the point where the dog shows clear signs of harm.”<\/p>\n

\"Andrew<\/p>\n

Andrew Hoggard in November 2023 (file image). (Source: Supplied\/Doug Mountain)<\/p>\n

The proposals were open for public feedback, and Hoggard said “nothing has been decided”. <\/p>\n

The consultation period opened today and will close at 5pm on November 23. <\/p>\n

“We want to hear whether the proposed signs are clear, whether $500 is the right fine, and whether the rules properly protect normal, short-term confinement. <\/p>\n

“We’re also asking for views on dog breeding, to help reduce the number of dangerous and roaming dogs, and on commercial services like day care, boarding kennels, walkers and groomers.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dog owners who keep their animals shut away in cages, crates and kennels for prolonged periods will be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":623972,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[50,111,43,139,69,135],"class_list":["post-623971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-animals","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=623971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623971\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/623972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=623971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=623971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=623971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}