If you have lost your dog, please phone our call centre 24/7 on 07 577 7000.
Your dog’s details will be kept on the national lost and found register for one month. If your dog finds its way home, please let us know.
You can also visit the dog pound during opening hours to check if your dog is there. The Tauranga dog pound is at 88 Hewletts Road, Mount Maunganui.
Alternatively, you can search our found dog register to see if your dog has ended up in our care.
Found dog register Report a roaming dog
Lost dogs
If you have lost your dog, you can also try:
Microchipping your dog and letting us know the ID number is the easiest and fastest way to ensure you’re reunited with your dog.
Found dogs
If you find a dog, please phone council and we’ll collect the dog and take it to the dog pound until the owner can be contacted.
Council can access national dog records and re-home the majority of dogs that are impounded. In addition to returning the dog, the owner is provided with information to reduce the risk of the dog roaming again.
If you find a dog and retain it for more than 72 hours you become legally liable for that dog’s registration and behaviour.
Managing roaming complaints
If it is safe to do so and you are able, please secure the dog before phoning council. If it is the first time the dog has been reported to council as roaming and the dog is registered, it will be returned home if it can be secured by the owner. Otherwise, dogs picked up for roaming will be taken to the Tauranga dog pound. Owners are required to pay a fee to have their dog released.
In situations where council is notified of a roaming dog, but it is not collected (due to various reasons e.g. unable to be located, notified after the fact), it is very difficult for council to follow up if we do not have sufficient information to allow us to identify the dog.
If the dog can be identified, and it’s the first roaming complaint, we will send the owner a letter advising them that their dog has been roaming and ask them to take steps to ensure their dog does not roam again. If a second complaint is received, an animal control officer will visit the property and talk directly to the owner to request an explanation. The owner may be issued with an infringement notice. Multiple infringements can lead to disqualification as a dog owner.
Generally, we find most owners are surprised to hear that a complaint has been made against their dog, and they are happy to rectify the problem.
Other lost animals
Other animals are occasionally impounded. If you have lost a family pet, call us on 07 577 7000.
Adopt a dog
If you are looking to adopt a dog, head to our dogs available for adoption webpage. We offer dogs ready for adoption through our Facebook page:
Tauranga Animal Services – Facebook