Keeping of Animals Bylaw review

Closes: 21/08/2026

The Keeping of Animals (excluding Dogs) and Birds Bylaw was introduced in 2010 to protect the public from nuisance and to protect, promote and maintain public health and safety by controlling the keeping of animals and birds within the residential and rural-residential district. It does not extend to dogs which are regulated by the Dog Control Act 1996 and Dog Control Bylaw.

The Bylaw was reviewed in 2022 when provision was added to ban the keeping of roosters in residential zone areas unless owners have written permission. This was in response to feedback about noise nuisance issues. The Bylaw is due for review.

Following initial community engagement, no substantive change is proposed to the Bylaw which seems to be working well to address issues related to keeping animals in Dunedin. One minor amendment to the definition of ‘animal’ is proposed for clarification.

Keeping roosters - no change proposed

The proposal is to retain the ban on keeping roosters in residential zone areas unless owners have written permission from the Council. The Council may impose conditions to the permission e.g. breeders/owners with no nuisance record. This helps to address noise nuisance issues with roosters and is in response to complaints and survey feedback.

Residential zone areas are spread throughout Dunedin City. Visit 2GP Planning map to see the zones for your area of interest.

Keeping other animals - no change proposed

Bees

No change to the bylaw is proposed in relation to bees. This means there are no specific restrictions proposed for keeping bees as there is insufficient evidence to warrant this. The bylaw already provides generally if bees pose a nuisance.

Cats

No specific bylaw restrictions are proposed for keeping cats. The bylaw already allows the Council to impose a limit on the number and/or species of animals or birds kept at a property if owners are non-compliant in addressing nuisance issues.

A bylaw is not considered the most appropriate means of addressing cat issues specifically. While feedback shows most issues are with the number of cats, cats wandering and cats attacking wildlife, these issues do not, in themselves, pose a nuisance to the public or impact public health and safety. So, this falls outside the scope of the Local Government Act 2002, under which this bylaw is made, which is aimed at protecting people and communities rather than wildlife.

Where other issues such as cat faeces can be a nuisance or impact health and safety, they can be dealt with through existing bylaw provisions.

Have your say

What do you think about the proposed bylaw? Are proposed changes appropriate? Please fill out the feedback form so we can take your views into account.

Where to from here?

• Public submissions period closes 5pm Friday 21 August.
• Hearings will be held around September 2026.
• The Council considers submissions and decides on any changes to the bylaw.
• The Council adopts the reviewed bylaw.

Consultation documents

• Keeping of Animals Bylaw Statement of proposal (PDF, 415.9 KB, new window)
• Draft Keeping of Animals Bylaw 2026 (PDF, 214.2 KB, new window)
• Keeping of Animals Bylaw 2022
• Keeping of Animals Bylaw submission form (PDF, 143.1 KB, new window)

Consultation details

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