The executive director of the New Brunswick SPCA, Hilary Howes, says he has been surprised by the high number of complaints received by the SPCA since dog tethering laws came into effect just over a year ago.

"We've been very busy in response. We've done over 400 tethering investigations," Howes said in an interview on Information Morning Moncton.

"We were expecting about half that number, I'm quite shocked by the number of people who were tethering their dogs overnight and some of the dogs you would never consider leaving out overnight — you know small dogs with minimal hair."

New Brunswick was the first province in Canada to bring in a dog-tethering law on Dec. 1, 2014, restricting tethering between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. to 30 minutes or less.

Image | Hilary Howes

Caption: New Brunswick SPCA executive director Hilary Howes says his organization is moving from an education phase to an enforcement phase and he expects more fines will be handed out in the coming year. (CBC)

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Howes says the complaints have come from across the province, with "some concentration" in Gloucester County and in Charlotte County.

"The positive thing is that virtually everybody that we've approached about it has agreed to change how they tether their dogs. They've agreed to take them in at night or they've built a pen with an adequate dog house so it's been very positive."

He says the colder months are by far the busiest time for complaints, with between 50 and 60 calls every month last winter. He adds calls are already starting to pick up this month with about 20 complaints in the past thirty days.

Howes says so far, the SPCA has been in an "education phase" and only one fine has been issued.

"We suspect this winter we'll probably see the number of fines increase largely because we're going to move out of an education stage and into a real enforcement stage. People have had a year now to comply with the law." he said.

Howes explains that in order to comply with the law, pet-owners can only leave their dogs outside overnight if the dog is a breed that is able to withstand the weather and has a pen that includes a well-built, insulated, waterproof doghouse that has straw on the floor.

The SPCA has received more than $40,000 from the provincial government to help enforce the new regulations.

"We are pleased to support the SPCA... to ensure that our collective efforts are increasing awareness and reducing the instances where dogs are left tethered," Environment and Local Government Minister Brian Kenny said in a statement.

Howes says provincial funding covered about 50 per cent of the tethering investigations that have been carried out.

Fines for people who do not comply with the rules start at $200.

Howes says the tethering law has put New Brunswick ahead of the rest of the country when it comes to animal protection, and complaints have gradually decreased as people become aware of their responsibilities.