New Zealand Legislation: Acts

25 Disqualification of owners

• (1) A territorial authority must disqualify a person from being an owner of a dog if—

  • (a) the person commits 3 or more infringement offences (not relating to a single incident or occasion) within a continuous period of 24 months; or

  • (b) the person is convicted of an offence (not being an infringement offence) against this Act; or

  • (c) the person is convicted of an offence against Part 1 or Part 2 of the Animal Welfare Act 1999, section 26ZZP of the Conservation Act 1987, or section 56I of the National Parks Act 1980.

  (1A) Subsection (1) does not apply if the territorial authority is satisfied that the circumstances of the offence or offences are such that—

  • (a) disqualification is not warranted; or

  • (b) the territorial authority will instead classify the person as a probationary owner under section 21.

  (2) For the purposes of subsection (1)(a), a person must be treated as having committed an infringement offence if—

  • (a) the person has been ordered to pay a fine and costs under section 78A(1) of the Summary Proceedings Act 1957, or is deemed to have been ordered to do so under section 21(5) of that Act, in respect of the offence; or

  • (b) the infringement fee specified on the infringement notice in respect of the offence issued to the person under section 66 has been paid.

  (3) A disqualification under subsection (1) continues in force for a period specified by the territorial authority not exceeding 5 years from the date of the third infringement offence or offences (as the case may be) in respect of which the person is disqualified.

  (4) If a person is disqualified under subsection (1), the territorial authority must, as soon as practicable, give written notice in the prescribed form to the person of that decision.

  Subsection (1) was amended, as from 1 January 2000, by section 194 Animal Welfare Act 1999 (1999 No 142) by substituting the words “Part 1 or Part 2 of the Animal Welfare Act 1999” for the words “section 3 or section 4 of the Animals Protection Act 1960”.

  Section 25 was substituted, as from 1 December 2003, by section 14 Dog Control Amendment Act 2003 (2003 No 119).

  Subsection (1) was amended, as from 7 July 2004, by section 7(1) Dog Control Amendment Act 2004 (2004 No 61) by omitting the words “, unless it is satisfied that the circumstances of an offence or offences do not warrant disqualification or probationary ownership,”.

  Subsection (1A) was inserted, as from 7 July 2004, by section 7(2) Dog Control Amendment Act 2004 (2004 No 61).