FIGURES REVEAL THE DOG CAPITAL OF NEW ZEALAND AND MOST POPULAR BREEDS
Source: News Talk. (Extract)
Posted: January 5, 2021
Hurunui is the dog capital of New Zealand it seems, with the small South Island district boasting the most registered dogs per 1000 people in the whole country.
Figures provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs show Hurunui has a whopping 421 dogs per capita, far in front of the nearest district, Southland, with 380.
More densely populated areas have fewer dogs per capita, with Wellington City recording the lowest number of a mere 58 dogs per 1000 people.
The figures also show Labrador Retriever is by far the most popular registered dog breed in New Zealand.
Huntaway and Border Collie are the second and third most popular breeds, which can likely be attributed to the sheer size of our rural community.
Hurunui is a local government district within the Canterbury region and stretches from the east coast to the Main Divide.
The ministry’s figures show they had 5451 total dogs in 2020 to a population of about 12,950 people.
And while Wellington City had 12,220 dogs, compared to their population of 211,200, the number per capita is far less than Hurunui.
As an overall number, Auckland (Group) has the most dogs with 106,332 but its population of over 1.6 million people dwarfs the number of dogs.
It comes after Bella and Charlie were voted the top two dog names for 2020.
An informal survey conducted by Wellington City Council asked respondents to vote on their favourites on everything from best audiobooks to favourite dog names.
Labradors were voted as the “top dog”, followed by Cavalier King Charles spaniels and border collies.
Wellington Labrador and Retriever club secretary Trudy Warmerdam said Labradors had long been a popular pet choice.
“Labradors are great family dogs but they’re also easy to train … they’re great for anything really, guide dogs, hunting, duck shooting, guard dogs,” she said.
“They’re the most popular family dog because they’re so good with kids.”
Although Wellington was a dense city, Warmerdam said the access to beaches and hiking trails made it an ideal home for labradors.
