KEY POINTS:
Dumping dead dogs into an offal pit on ratepayer-owned land has cost Whangarei's dog controller a $1000 fine.
The Northland Regional Council issued an infringement notice and imposed the fine on Environmental Northland, which handles animal control in Whangarei.
As well, Environmental Northland boss Keith Thompson has been
told to stop the dumping from September 9.
The delay will give the Whangarei District Council time to apply for resource consent to permit the dumping. Thousands of dogs, most of them abandoned, have been shot and dropped in holes on a hill above the city dog pound.
The practice caused outrage among dog lovers when it was exposed in May, prompting the district council to review its dog-control methods.
Regional council enforcement officer Paul Baynham said the district council had yet to apply for consent to dump dead dogs in the pits, but the regional council might allow an extension of the September 9 deadline if the district council had a valid reason for such a delay.
The regional council is likely to impose conditions on any consent.
The infringement notice was issued to Environmental Northland for "disposing of dead animals (dead dogs) to land as part of a commercial trade operation in a manner which was not allowed by a rule in a regional plan or any relevant proposed regional plan, a resource consent or regulations".
A fine of $1000 was also imposed.
An accompanying abatement notice tells the company to cease the activity by September 9.
In a letter to the district council, Mr Baynham said disposing of dead dogs was a discretionary activity under the Regional Water and Soil Plan for Northland and a resource consent was required to continue the practice.
"Although the animal-control programme is contracted out to Environmental Northland, the responsibility for this function resides with the Whangarei District Council," he wrote.
"On this basis, it would seem appropriate for the Whangarei District Council to apply for the resource consent, as the contractor responsible for this task may change in the future."
It would help the officer processing the application if the district council could confirm that it would cover the holes when no staff were on the site, and divert surface water away from any disposal holes.
Mr Baynham also recommended that district council staff apply lime to the holes to promote decomposition and reduce odour.
The district council is appointing an independent planning consultant to apply, on its behalf, for resource consent for the offal pit operation.
It decided an independent planning consultant was appropriate because of the nature of the activity and the public interest in it.