There are 32,000 officially registered pooches, leaving about 10,000 unregistered and making the city’s systematic inspection programs all the more important.
Council will continue the program to identify unregistered dogs after discovering more than one in 10 homes visited had at least one unregistered dog.
Heath, Security and Community Safety Committee Chairwoman Councillor Sheila Ireland said the Animal Management (Cats and Dogs) Act 2008 required all dogs over the age of 12 weeks to be registered with council.
“Dog registration provides identification, which improves the chances of lost dogs being reunited with their owners, promotes responsible pet ownership and allows council to provide appropriate management strategies and facilities,” she said.
“Council undertook two systematic inspection programs last financial year and identified that 13 per cent of the 4,000 properties visited had at least one unregistered dog.
“That amounted to about 500 unregistered dogs.”
Cr Ireland said continuation of the program would increase the number of dogs carrying identification tags, improve council’s ability to locate owners of wandering dogs through registration tags, and minimise the number of impounded dogs that remain unclaimed.
“The 2017-2018 inspection program successfully identified unregistered dogs, with officers being received well by the community. It will further encourage responsible pet ownership and ensure the registration database remains accurate,” she said.
“The introductory rate of $20 per dog remains unchanged for the 2018-2019 financial year and represents excellent value to residents registering for the first time with council.”
The six-month program will run from 1 July to 31 December 2018, then 1 January to 30 June 2019.
The penalty is a $252 on-the-spot infringement.
Council has developed an education campaign that encourages dog owners in the city to ‘Leash, Tag and Carry Bag’.
Council prefers to have a friendly chat (as the resident may not be aware of the local law requirements) or dropping some information in the dog owner’s letterbox. Residents can report repeat incidents from a particular dog/owner to council.
Council’s Animal Management Branch is responsible for enforcing a broad range of laws relevant to keeping pets within the city.
Proactive patrols to educate the community on a range of issues is one way the team promotes responsible pet ownership.
Other ways include education campaigns like ‘Leash, Tag and Carry Bag’, attendance at community events and providing specific information and advice to dog owners in response to a complaint at a nominated address.
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