Have you had your dog registered yet? If you’re a Cassowary Coast resident who owns a dog that is unregistered, you might just be nabbed with an infringement notice shortly.
This comes after Council recently identified over 860 unregistered dogs on the Cassowary Coast as part of a two month auditing program.
Undertaken over a nine week period, officers visited more than 5,000 properties on the Cassowary Coast in order to educate residents on responsible pet ownership and ensure compliancy.
Cassowary Coast Mayor John Kremastos said Council has given residents ample opportunities to be compliant.
“Our officers first gave residents information and registration forms during their visit for those who were identified having unregistered dogs,” said Cr Kremastos.
“Non-registration after 14 days was followed up with a friendly reminder letter giving another 14 days, followed by a second friendly reminder letter giving a further seven days, and a third warning letter advising if dogs were not registered after seven days, penalty infringements will be issued.
“Since going through the audit process it’s been great to see people realising the importance of registering their dog with some 510 new dog registrations to date on the data base. That does however also mean that there are still some unregistered dogs in the region.”
During the program over 570 premises contained unregistered dogs, with 67 of them requiring detail changes to their dog’s registration.
“What people need to realise is that the buck stops with the owners in being responsible and compliant, not Council,” said Cr Kremastos.
“At the end of the day we can continue to police problem pets, but if owners took responsibility and ensured they did the right thing by fencing their yards to stop roaming pets, walking their dogs on a lead, neutering to stop the ongoing problem of unwanted animals, and making sure they are registered and microchipped, we would have a happier and safer community.”
If you own an unregistered dog you can expect to be issued with a $261 infringement notice.
“Registering your dog helps to reunite lost dogs, monitor the amount of dogs within the region and with Council’s operation of its pounds, animal patrols and investigations of animal-related complaints,” said Cr Kremastos.
To register your dog now, visit Council’s Customer Service desks at the Innisfail Shire Hall, Tully Civic Centre or Cardwell Library, ring the number below or download Dog Registration Application form from Council’s website.
For more information on being an awesome dog owner and the dog audit, visit www.cassowarycoast.qld.gov.au or call 1300 763 903
