Rotorua's shocking stray dog statistics has seen the council, vets and SPCA join forces to try and deal with the problem.
The Rotorua District Council, Rotorua SPCA and VetPlus are in talks about starting a programme in which the three organisations would pay a quarter of the cost each with local dog owners to get their dogs de-sexed.
Rotorua SPCA manager Nicola Martin said the details of the programme were yet to be finalised and that included whether the programme would be for all local dog owners or only those with Community Services Cards.
If the programme goes ahead, the cost to de-sex a dog for locals in the city could possibly fall from about $100 to around $30.
Rotorua District Councillor Julie Calnan said the council had pledged $30,000 over the next three years to help start and run the programme.
She said it cost around $1 million each year to run Animal Control and 50 per cent of this was paid by ratepayers.
She said she hoped the council would adopt the same attitude as the Dunedin City Council which had offered reduced registration fees for de-sexed dogs and paid the costs of de-sexing for Community Services Card holders for the past 11 years.
The Royal New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals chief executive Robyn Kippenberger said the initiative had been so successful, Dunedin no longer had a puppy problem and she hoped other councils would follow suit.
Rotorua Animal Control supervisor Kevin Coutts said he was fed up with irresponsible dog owners.
He said every year the pound dealt with up to 1900 dogs and around 900 of them needed to be put down.
He said potential dog owners needed to think hard about whether they could afford a dog.
"If they can't afford to have a dog de-sexed, they can't afford a dog," he said.
He said putting down dogs was an awful experience.
"I feel terrible about it.
"We are the ones who have to hold the dog down while the needle is put in and I feel the same way about it as any person who cares about animals would."