Pets & Pats owner Angela Beer and her company have been fined a total of $103,125 for flouting council and RMA rules. Photo / Sylvie Whinray, supplied
Pets & Pats owner Angela Beer and her company have been fined a total of $103,125 for flouting council and RMA rules. Photo / Sylvie Whinray, supplied
A posh Auckland dog daycare has been fined more than $100,000 for repeated breaches of court orders and ongoing non-compliance with the RMA.
Auckland Council said it secured new convictions and fines totalling $103,125 against Angela Maree Beer and her company, which trades under the name Pets & Pats.
Beer told the Herald she and her business had been unfairly treated throughout the long-running saga.
“I don’t think it was fair that I’ve been singled out and I have a criminal conviction and $100,000 worth of fines when there are people doing a lot worse than I have,” she said.
Beer said she was relieved it was finally all over.
Pets & Pats pitched itself to Auckland’s wealthy inner suburbs, with Beer promoting it as a bucolic escape for city dogs.
Beer rented a manor-style house with expansive paddocks and lawns for pets shuttled out of the city in her upscale vans.
The operation ran into conflict with locals, who claimed there was excessive noise and that dogs were arriving in greater numbers and earlier than allowed under a resource consent.
The saga started in Dairy Flat but operations have since moved to Kumeū.
A Pets & Pats van parked outside the old Dairy Flat base of the doggy daycare run by Angela Beer. Photo / NZME
In a reserved decision released on Wednesday, Judge Sheena Tepania said the offending showed a “blatant disregard for the laws and rules that apply to them”.
Judge Tepania said Beer had made “a deliberate and calculated commercial decision not to comply” with clear court-imposed orders.
Beer and her company, Teddy and Friends, were each fined $51,562.50 after pleading guilty to three charges under the RMA, including two counts of breaching enforcement orders and one of using land in contravention of the Auckland Unitary Plan.
Charges laid related to the continued operation of the Pets & Pats dog daycare and boarding facility. Photo / Supplied
The charges related to the continued operation of the daycare in Dairy Flat between June 2023 and April 2024 despite earlier court orders and convictions.
Tepania said it was highly careless for Beer to take a “hands-off” role and that the offending had caused “tangible adverse impacts on the amenity values and wellbeing of the local community”.
The court noted that while awaiting sentencing for earlier offences, the defendants “almost immediately” breached the enforcement orders, continuing to offend on 36 occasions over a 10-month period.
“Pets & Pats was a commercial operation, more dogs meant more money,” Tepania said.
Angela Beer and pals on Pt Chevalier Beach. Photo / Dean Purcell
Repeat offending
The latest ruling follows earlier convictions in May 2024.
The defendants were fined $77,750 for ongoing breaches of their resource consent between September 2021 and August 2022.
Those charges were for unauthorised, large-scale dog daycare and boarding activities that exceeded approved limits for dog numbers, operating hours, fencing standards and exercise areas.
Complaints made by 17 different neighbours prompted multiple enforcement steps by Auckland Council, including abatement notices and a May 2023 enforcement order intended to limit impacts while allowing time for the business to comply or relocate.
Despite this, the daycare continued operating in breach of those orders.
Some 17 different neighbours made complaints to Auckland Council about the Pets & Pats dog daycare and boarding facility. Photo / Supplied
Deliberate flouting of the law, council says
Auckland Council’s team leader for prosecutions Paul Cowling said the decision sends a clear message.
“Ignoring court orders and breaching the RMA is not okay. Auckland Council will pursue individuals and businesses that deliberately flout the rules and disregard their legal obligations.
“These laws exist to protect communities, and when they’re ignored, there are consequences,” Cowling said.
Pets & Pats owner Angela Beer leaves the Auckland District Court in May. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
Cowling said the council had exhausted all other compliance options before returning to court.
“The rules around dog boarding and daycare activities in rural zones are clear, resource consent is required, whether a business is large or small.
“Enforcement is always the last resort, but where there’s deliberate defiance, prosecution is inevitable to protect the public from nuisance and harm,” he said.
Timeline
September 2020: Council first received complaints about non-compliance at 165 Bawden Rd, Dairy Flat.
May 2023: The Environment Court issued enforcement orders requiring compliance with resource consent conditions.
May 2024: Beer and Teddy and Friends were convicted and fined $77,750 for RMA breaches between 2021 and 2022.
