OUT of every 100 dog fines issued in Whanganui, fewer than three get paid.
In the past financial year, Whanganui District Council staff handed out 766 fines, but only 22 of them - less than 3 per cent - were paid. The remainder were mostly written off or ended up in court.
However, animal control officers believe they are on the right track. Most of those fines were for unregistered dogs, and more than half of them ended up being written off after owners registered their dogs. A further 40 per cent were lodged with the court.
"We do eventually get the money," council regulatory and customer services manager Bryan Nicholson told councillors this week.
The figures were presented on Tuesday as part of a report on dog control.