Enforcing dog-on-leash laws to reduce the risk of attacks and mandatory desexing of cats before registration have been touted under Hobson’s Bay council’s Domestic Animal Management Plan 2017-21.
The plan is out for community feedback until November 22.
A report tabled at last week’s council meeting stated that while introducing a cat curfew would have some environmental benefit, “the majority of wandering cats are unregistered, feral and unowned”.
Council data estimated that 40 per cent of households own one or more dogs and 26 per cent own one or more cats, equating to 21,352 dogs and 14,168 cats. However, only 9050 dogs (43 per cent) and 3387 cats (24 per cent) are registered.
A snapshot as at April 2017, showed that 509 cats were impounded and of these 463 (91 per cent) were unregistered. Twenty-nine were returned to their owner, 134 were rehoused and 342 were euthanised.
Also, 242 dogs were impounded, of which 51 (21 per cent) were unregistered. Of these, 162 were returned to their owner from The Lost Dogs Home. The council returned another 215 dogs to their owners. Sixty dogs were rehoused and 18 were euthanised.
The council aims to maximise the number of dogs and cats being registered and will continue to directly return microchipped and registered lost animals after a successful trial.
PETstock is having a microchip blitz at its Altona North store on October 21 and 22, charging a $10 flat fee. Victorian law requires cats and dogs to be microchipped as a condition of registration. To book, visit petstock.com.au/assist/the-great-microchip-blitz
