Responsible Owner Licence (ROL)

The Responsible Owner Licence (ROL) has been designed to benefit residential and rural dog owners who have a good history of dog care and control and fit the following eligibility criteria:

Dog owner’s history

• You need to have been a registered dog owner in New Zealand for 12 months before applying.
• You must have a satisfactory dog registration history with Council, and had no substantiated abatements, seizures or infringements (under the Dog Control Act 1996) in the previous 12 months.
• You will have always registered your dog(s) and paid the fees prior to or on 31 July each year.
• Your dog(s) will not have been the subject of a substantiated complaint or impoundment under the Dog Control Act 1996 for the previous 12 months.

The physical containment of your dog(s)

Dog owners will need to be able to confine their dogs securely on their section and people must be able to reach a door without having to pass the dog. The fencing needs to be sturdy and a robust barrier to confine your dog(s) at all times. We recommend the fenced area is to be a minimum size of eight metres by four metres.

Tethering, chaining or caging of dog(s) is not considered appropriate forms of containment. A fencing inspection will be completed by an Animal Control Officer.