Council responds to community concerns about pet registration inspections

Pets

Jereme Lane

Journalist

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Douglas Shire Council has responded to questions from Newsport confirming that while council officers will be conducting backyard checks, they won’t be cutting locks or forcing entry into private property.

A Council spokesperson also confirmed that while council officers have the authority to, they “won’t be jumping fences. The intent of the program is not to enter yards.”

However, Council did confirm that if an inspector can’t determine whether a dog is in the backyard with a visual inspection, they will enter the backyard to check for pets.

One point of concern was that households with full-time workers would be disadvantaged over single-worker households or other situations where residents were usually home during the day.

“Even if a person is at home, an officer can enter the yard without their consent, but that is not the aim of the program,” the spokesperson said.

Council aims to complete inspections of the entire Shire over the 6-month duration of the program including large properties and farms.

The push for increased registrations comes after a recent spike in dog attacks in Douglas Shire. According to Council:

  • Last financial year, there were 103 dog attacks, or incidents involving wandering dogs rushing up to people, with 72.5% of them involving unregistered animals.
  • A further 111 unregistered dogs were impounded by Council last financial year.
  • Since July 1 this year, Council has impounded 39 dogs – with 77% of those unregistered – and responded to 19 incidents of dog attacks, or incidents involving wandering dogs rushing up to people.

Douglas Shire Mayor Michael Kerr said he is astounded by these numbers and that it’s not good enough.

“We will be working with our local dog owners to get every dog on our books to improve animal welfare and public safety in our region,” Mayor Kerr said.

While very few people are arguing with the statistics involving unregistered dogs, community concerns are focused on Council’s ability to enter people’s property without prior notice. This concern was raised by Deputy Mayor Lisa Scomazzon at the council meeting on 31st August, before the resolution was passed unanimously (Skip to 9m10s of this video to watch). Cr Scomazzon said, “people 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.”

Council stressed that these additional powers are nothing new and have been available since 2008, with the passing of the Animal Management (Cats and Dogs) Act.

“The Animal Management (Cats and Dogs) Act has been legislation since 2008, and requires that all dogs be registered with the local authority if they are more than 12 weeks old. Councils have been delegated the authority to regulate this Act and, as such, have an obligation to ensure compliance.”

While Council has had the ability to enter private property for pet compliance since the Act came into effect, Council is still required to pass a resolution should they wish to do a blanket inspection of the entire region. It’s this large-scale checking of an entire area – specifically targeting properties that do not have a pet registered – that has caused concern.

In a recent poll run by Newsport, 76.34% of 224 respondents strongly disagreed that Council should be able to enter an unattended property without prior notice when inspecting for unregistered pets. See Results below. Newsport’s Facebook page and Newsport.com.au’s in-story comments and voting suggested similar sentiment.


Douglas Shire resident and dog-owner Rob Acres agrees that registrations are a good thing for the welfare of the dog but believes there are other ways of doing it than what council have planned.

“I agree with registrations provided it’s done for the welfare of the dogs. I do not agree with Council coming unannounced into people’s property. It’s dogs this week, what’s next week, too much smoke coming off your bbq? The tyres on your car are too bald? Where does it stop?” Mr Acres said.

Newsport also asked Council about inspectors reporting other breaches while performing their inspections, such as pool fence safety breaches or the growing of marijuana plants.

“Pool fencing is covered under the Building Act and Council Officers have an obligation to take action where breaches are identified. Compliant pool barriers help save lives by preventing young children from accessing swimming pools. All other issues are off-limits and will not be actioned. Inspectors will not have any obligation to report criminal activity to the police.”

In response to a questions regarding people who are at home refusing entry to council inspectors, Council reminded residents not to hinder council staff in the performance of their duties.

“Even if a person is at home, an officer can enter the yard without their consent. There are a number of offences for hindering authorised officers in the conduct of their duty. However, if people co-operate and be honest with officers, they will have no need to enter yards. Better still, register your dogs and we probably won’t come anywhere near your yard.”

The inspections are due to start on 20 September and the location where council officers will begin inspections has yet to be determined.


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