An organisation that rescues and rehomes huskies says it has been overrun with dumped dogs, as the breed's popularity soars.
Husky Rescue New Zealand says many people are adopting the dogs without understanding how much work and care they need.
Five huskies have been dumped in the past fortnight - five more needing help from Husky Rescue to find a new home.
Michelle Atwood's been running Husky Rescue NZ for eight years.
"We had over 50 dogs surrendered last year alone and its incremental," she said. "We started off with one or two dogs a year."
According to Ms Atwood, TV shows like Game of Thrones and social media platforms like Instagram have made the breed trendy, and unregulated backyard breeders are flooding the market.
But many owners don't appreciate the commitment they're making, which includes walking the dogs 5km a day on a lead.
"They look really nice on the photos and really gorgeous, but they're hard work," said Husky Rescue NZ volunteer Sam Church.
"They're not very easy to maintain and look after. It takes hours and hours, and I think people forget that."
Ms Attwood says 10-month-old Falcon is a prime example.
He was purchased by a student, who thought he'd make a nice fashion accessory - a few months later, he was given up.
"He's a typical example of the breed and what we are seeing come through," she said.
"They've bought him because he's pretty, he looks really cool, and then done nothing with him."
Ms Attwood says they're now trying to raise funds for a bigger purpose-built facility to cope with the growing number of huskies needing her help.
Newshub.
