'Complainants as vexatious as the dogs' - Dunedin Mayor

A report showed the Dunedin Council had received 3519 dog-control complaints in the past year. Photo / iStock

The Dunedin City Council should pay heed to the barking coming from dogs, but also to that coming from those who complain too much about them, Mayor Dave Cull has suggested.

Mr Cull was commenting on a report to yesterday's council planning and regulatory committee meeting showing the council had received 3519 dog-control complaints in the past year.

That was down slightly from the previous year's total of 3694, but the overall number of registered dogs in the city was up slightly, by 111, to 16,577, in the year to June 30.

Mr Cull told the meeting if the council was keeping records, ''would it not also be useful to collect data on the number of complaints particular individuals make?''

''It may be the complainants are as vexatious as the dogs.''

Council animal control team leader Ros MacGill said she would ''completely agree'', as some repeat complainants had already been told the council would no longer take their complaints about dogs.

A proportion of the complaints received each year were the result of ''neighbours at war'', although the exact numbers involved could not be quantified yesterday, Ms MacGill said.

Her report to yesterday's meeting also showed 62% of all complaints received related to barking or wandering dogs.

As a result, 460 dogs had been impounded in the 12-month period, down by 154 from the previous year, while infringement notices issued also dropped by 31, to 706.