Bylaws help guide the way our community lives, works and plays within our district. Bylaws usually take national legislation and make them more localised so they suit what’s best for our community.

Bylaws also provide council with the authority to take certain actions or regulate the way services or public spaces are used by the community.

Bylaws are reviewed within set periods use public feedback to help shape how they are a developed.

Council is required by the Dog Control Act 1996 to have a policy on dogs and to have a bylaw that gives effect to the policy. To help keep our community safe, the Bylaw and Policy work together setting out rules in relation to the control and welfare of dogs, and giving council authority to enforce those rules. This includes identifying dog exercise areas and places where dogs are restricted, how council deals with menacing dogs and ways to regulate uncontrolled and dangerous dogs.

Council is proposing to make minor changes that improve clarity and ensure both the Policy and Bylaw align with national legislations. In addition, two further clauses are proposed in relation to DNA sampling and desexing of offending dogs. The proposed changes are outlined below:

Key proposed changes:

1. Redrafting the Policy and Bylaw to improve clarity and to ensure the Policy and Bylaw are consistent with and give effect to each other
2. The ability for Council to extract DNA either through saliva or hair from impounded dogs to add to the dog DNA bank. Through the DNA banking database, Council would be able to accurately identify dogs that have caused harm and prosecute their owners
3. The ability for Council to enforce the desexing of dogs where council has a record of the dog being out of control on any previous occasion within the previous 12-month period.

A key priority for this council is community safety. The intention of the proposed clauses is to provide council staff with more tools to keep people and other animals safe from dangerous or menacing dogs. Council currently uses DNA testing as an investigative tool to assist in proving or disproving a dog(s) involvement in serious attacks on people and other animals. It is showing to be an effective investigative tool that enables council to prosecute irresponsible dog owners, and secure appropriate outcomes for the offender and victims including the recovery of costs.  

In recent years council has seen an increase in the number of unwanted roaming dogs. Dog owners who chose not to de-sex their animals contribute to this issue. By enforcing the desexing of uncontrolled dogs, council hopes to reduce the number of offending dogs as well as unwanted animals that end up in our pound.

As part of this review council did consider making a change to allow dogs into the Central Business District, however there are two key reasons it’s not included along with the proposed changes:

• The recently adopted Long-term Plan sets out work to be done in the inner city over years four, five and six of the 10 year plan. It is important that the discussion about allowing dogs in the CBD happens as part of that work to ensure all aspects of that conversation are taken into consideration.
• There has also been a continuing decline in the general compliance from dog owners. This includes low rates of annual registrations and an increase in the number of incidents involving roaming or uncontrolled dogs. The safety of the community is a key priority, holding off on the discussion to allow dogs in the CBD for the time being allows Council and the community to work together to improve compliance in relation to dog control.

There is a relatively small cost to obtain and process DNA profiles however, should the proposed changes be adopted, the intention would be to recover any costs through impound fees. This means costs would fall on the offending dog’s owner and not the wider community.