A report by the Environmental Risk Management Authority on aerial drops of 1080 has revealed that dogs and livestock were poisoned as a result of poor communication with the public.
It is the second report by the agency as part of the requirements which allow the poison to be used in New Zealand.
ERMA says there were 74 aerial drops over 600,000ha last year, aimed at keeping possum and rabbit numbers down.
Water monitoring was carried out at 22 sites. No poison was detected in catchments which supply drinking water.
However, the report says eight dogs died as a result of ingesting the poison, along with a sheep and a number of deer.
Hazardous substances general manager Andrea Eng says 30 complaints were received last year.
In general, she says breaches were rare and a lot were due to communication problems.
