The cost of controlling cats and dogs is proving costly for Invercargill city ratepayers.
The legal bill in the Invercargill City Council's court case against Averil Gardiner, who has 25 cats on her suburban property, totalled $18,715.46 to date, council environmental health and compliance manager John Youngson said this week.
That excluded GST and staff time, he said.
The legal costs began two years ago, when the council first spoke to a lawyer about the cats, he said.
The council won its case against Gardiner in the Invercargill District Court two weeks ago when Judge David Saunders said she must comply with a council bylaw and reduce the number of cats on her suburban property to three or fewer.
Gardiner, who had denied the charges and received taxpayer-funded legal aid for her trial, was also convicted of allowing her cats to create a nuisance for neighbours.
Mr Youngson said while the Gardiner bill was ''quite a lot of money'', it was dogs and their owners which were costing ratepayers more.
Costs began to mount when owners challenged council decisions to euthanise dogs that staff believed had attacked people.
That required the council to ask a district court judge to decide the animals' fates, he said.
One dog had been in the city pound for more than a year at a cost of $15 a day - close to $5500 a year. When legal fees were added, dog cases had so far cost ratepayers ''$10,275 and climbing''.
The council would claim pound fees from the owners, Mr Youngson said.
''But whether we get it is another matter.''
At any time there was usually one dog which had been in the pound for six months or longer, saying it was ''a frustration'' waiting for court cases to be scheduled.
''We have to keep the dogs in good health until cases are heard. In the case of this dog, we believe it is so dangerous we cannot let it out of the pound, although it is exercised regularly.''
Gardiner has until the middle of next week to rehome her cats.
Mr Youngson said he had not yet seen Judge Saunders' written decision but was working towards a deadline of Tuesday or Wednesday.
The council had not contacted Gardiner about the court order and would not do so until the deadline had passed, he said.
The cats have been advertised through the Invercargill-based organisation Furever Homes.
A posting on its Facebook page last week said it ''desperately need[ed] help finding homes or foster homes for 22 cats ... whose owner lost her court case recently''.
The post said the cats were healthy, well looked after, desexed, wormed and had been treated for fleas.
Furever Homes spokeswoman Donna Hawkins said yesterday it had had offers of homes from people all over Southland and as far afield as Nelson.
''Lots and lots of people want to help Averil. This is a very emotional time for her.''
None of the cats had gone to new homes yet, she said.
Homes were being checked for suitability and photographs of the cats were being taken for their likely new owners.
The cats would be rehomed gradually over the next week ''within the timeframe'', Ms Hawkins said.
At a glance
• Cat lady court case cost ratepayers $18,715 so far.
• Legal fees for dog cases $10,275 and climbing.
• Keeping dog in pound = $15 a day.
• One dog has been there for a year.
• Pound fees sought from owners.
