Animal management


Councils perform a range of functions relating to the management and responsible keeping of domestic pets in their municipality. These include:

  • Registration of cats and dogs;

  • Registration of domestic animal businesses (including pet shops, breeding establishments, shelters);

  • Provision of pound services for lost and abandoned animals;

  • Provision of microchip checks to assist in reuniting lost animals with their owners;

  • Collection of animals found wandering at large;

  • Control of dangerous, menacing and restricted breed dogs;

  • Response to complaints about animal nuisances, in particular barking dogs;

  • Responsible pet ownership information for owners.;

  • Special programs such as free and subsidised desexing and microchipping days.

A key function of Councils is the registration of dogs and cats . This encourages responsible pet ownership and assists in tracing the owners of stray animals. Part of all registration fees goes toward funding responsible pet ownership programs, supporting Council pound and other animal management services, and the Bureau of Animal Welfare’s Statewide education and research programs to promote and support animal welfare.

Controls often have education programs and incentives to further encourage responsible animal ownership eg schools programs, discount vaccination and desexing vouchers when puppies and kittens are first registered and microchipping days (where a tiny identifying chip in inserted under the animal’s skin).

Through their local laws councils regulate other matters like:

  • the keeping of domestic animals (including dogs and cats) on private property (eg banning some animals from residential areas and limiting numbers of others)

  • the control of domestic animals in public places (eg dogs to be on a leash, restrictions on when dogs can be on beaches, parks or reserves)

  • nuisances and dangers posed by domestic animals (eg barking dogs, dangerous dogs, cleaning up after your dog, impounding of wandering animals, restrictions on where horses are ridden)

The Domestic Animals Act 1994 gives councils the responsibility for registering and controlling dogs and cats, and domestic animal businesses in their municipality.

The purpose of this Act is to promote animal welfare, the responsible ownership of dogs and cats and the protection of the environment by providing:

  • a scheme to protect the community and the environment from feral and nuisance dogs and cats

  • a registration and identification scheme for dogs and cats which recognises and promotes responsible ownership

  • the identification and control of dangerous dogs

  • a registration scheme for domestic animal businesses which promotes the maintenance of standards of those businesses

  • matters related to the boarding of dogs and cats

  • regulating the permanent identification of dogs, cats, horses and other animals; and

  • payments from fees received by Councils under the Act.

The best way to find out more detail about services in your local government area is to contact your local council.

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