Council passes pet registration inspection program allowing additional powers of entry

Unregistered pets are firmly in the sights of the Douglas Shire Council after an inspection program was approved unanimously at today’s ordinary council meeting.

Council staff will begin conducting inspections of residential properties in the Douglas Shire from 20 September including entry into private property without prior warning.

This follows in the footsteps of Cairns Regional Council who conducted an inspection program in 2019 which saw a 33 per cent increase in registrations.

The last such inspection in Douglas Shire was during the early days of the CRC amalgamation and is in response to growing concern regarding unregistered animals.

The motion was passed unanimously but not before some discussion from the Deputy Mayor around entry into private property without prior warning.

“What I have an issue with is compliance officers going into a property when no one is home and having access to the property. People do get a little hot under the collar when they know you’ve been there and they haven't been home, it’s an invasion of privacy,” Councillor Lisa Scomazzon said.

The author of the report, Local Laws Team Leader Sara Roberts, addressed the concerns stating that entry into a property is not the goal.

“Our intention is not, in most instances, to actually enter the property despite having that ability under the act. Dogs generally, you can sense by barking so a knock on the door or a rattle of the gate will tell us everything we need to know,” Roberts said.

“The challenge with giving people exactly where we’re going to be and when is that dogs will get moved and hidden and that goes against what the program is about. Our intention is not to be snooping around in people’s backyards, it’s to find dogs that aren’t currently registered.

Mayor Michael Kerr added a reminder to all residents that dog tags are now a lifetime tag, not an annual tag.

“If you don’t have a tag call the front desk and they’ll organise one for you,” he said.

The inspection program will now have to be advertised significantly before it commences in less than three weeks time.