Western Bay's spokesdog Alfie has found a cute new mate to help him educate dog owners across the District for the coming year.

Meet Brownie – the five-month-old Australian Terrier/Maltese/Shih Tzu pup from Te Puke who stole the hearts of Council's judging panel to become the face of Western Bay dogs in 2020/21, including the Western Bay Wander Dogs Summer Series.

Kushla and Glen Haenen bought Brownie for their seven-year-old son Willem.

Willem was a little shy of dogs, so Kushla and Glen wanted him to learn confidence.

A teacher at Willem's school had a buddy pup that was helping the children learn the correct behaviours around dogs and this encouraged Kushla and Glen to find a wee buddy for Willem.

Brownie has turned out to be a perfect new family member – and he will be a great wee mate for Council's spokesdog Alfie, joining him in cartoon form for the 2020/21 year.

Brownie was one of more than 60 entrants to Council's Facebook competition to register for the new registration year by the end of June and post a photo of the dog with its new blue tag.

Council's Compliance and Monitoring Manager, Alison Curtis, thanks everyone who entered, saying it wasn't an easy task to pick the winner from so many cute dogs of all shapes and sizes.

'However Brownie had the X-factor and now we look forward to seeing him come to life alongside our Alfie as the two faces of Western Bay dogs for the next year.”

Dog owners who have not registered their dog for the 2020/21 year are reminded that they have until the July 31 to register. From August 1 a 50 per cent penalty fee applies to all dog registrations.

Late payers also need to be aware that if a dog is unregistered and impounded after July 1, any impounding fee also increases.

This year's registration tags are blue and information on fees and how they apply to different dogs (de-sexed, unneutered, dangerous, working and assistance dogs etc.) is available on Council's website www.westernbay.govt.nz/dogregistration.

If your or your dog/s details have changed from last year you can update your information online at www.westernbay.govt.nz/dog-payment or on your registration form when you make payment.

For any queries please contact Council's customer relationships team, phone 0800 926 732 or email customer.service@westernbay.govt.nz.