12 April 2021

Dog owners need to update details every year or face a fine

| Dominic Giannini
Join the conversation
70
Doggy database

A new doggy database will make it easier for lost dogs to be reunited with their owners. Photo: File.

Dog owners in the ACT could face a fine of $150 if they fail to update their registration details every year.

According to the ACT Government, more than 95 per cent of dogs roaming the territory currently have out of date details which makes it difficult to reunite lost dogs with their owners.

CEO of RSPCA ACT, Michelle Robertson welcomed the new laws saying it would help the organisation match the 300 lost dogs they receive every year with their owners.

The new regulation, which comes into effect from 1 July, will require owners to update their details every year and aims to streamline changes in registration details with the onus currently being on the dog’s original owner to update the details when a new owner takes the dog.

READ ALSO Take 3: Furry friends are welcome at Canberra’s dog-friendly lakeside cafes

The database will come into effect on 1 July and the dog’s registration date will be the date they are first registered. Owners will have 14 days to update their details after receiving a reminder notice from Domestic Animal Services before facing a $150 fine.

Those who had their dogs registered in July will have until August to update their details.

City Services Minister Chris Steel

City Services Minister Chris Steel said the database will not put additional costs on Canberrans. Photo: Dominic Giannini.

According to City Services Minister Chris Steel, there will be no additional costs for Canberrans who register their pets on time.

“Annual registration will ensure that we have up-to-date information on dogs so we can better understand how many are living here in the ACT and pinpoint where and who owns them,” he said.

“The new system will address the challenges we currently face with lifetime registration as owners rarely tell the government when they change address or phone number, transfer their dog’s ownership to someone else or their pet passes away.

READ ALSO RSPCA’s Pets of the Week – Jerry & Joey

“This can be a particular problem when dog attacks unfortunately happen or there is concern about dangerous dogs.”

Around a third of Canberra residents own a dog and this number is as high as 48 per cent in Tuggeranong.

Join the conversation

70
All Comments
  • All Comments
  • Website Comments
LatestOldest

95% of dogs roaming the Territory have out of date details because the DAS (Domestic Animal Services) does not (will not or are unable to) keep up to date records! When changing my address on Access Canberra website a few years ago I ticked a box giving permission for my details to be cross referenced across all ACT Government services. Upon dealing with DAS some time later, I was accused off not being a responsible dog owner because I didn’t update my details. When I produced email proof of changing my address, the complained they only keep manual records via direct contact! Now they have contacted me by snail mail – again saying they have been unable to get in touch but my details have not been changed since I pushed back on them some time ago as above! That dog is now deceased and I have rgeistered another dog, same address, same person!!! Why they are unable to cross reference when given full permission to do so? Why we will be punished for DAS’s bureaucratic ineptitude? Seems like bureaucratic overkill to me by a long shot!

Mark Prevost9:54 pm 08 Apr 21

Do you think Chris Steel got bit by a dog as a kid, because he sure doen’t seem to like them much…..
So, now go to Access Canberra and try to update those details, Argh !!!

Mark Prevost9:46 pm 08 Apr 21

Yep, good idea, now go to Access Canberra and try to do so, what a farce this monolith has become. Failed to notify me that my car/bike licence was due for renewel, drove for a month unlicenced, Argh!!!

Capital Retro10:12 pm 06 Apr 21

“My dog identifies as a cat, no need to register”

Is it male, female or neutered?

It is gender fluid non-binary and identifies as a cat depending on phases of the moon.

Happy to suck up another layer of ACT Greelabor bureaucratic stupidity as soon as they stop cats killing the beautiful native birds which inhabit our yard.
(I must mention, I have the audacity to live in Tuggeranong where cats aren’t recognised as the pests they are, and can live and roam as long as they want)

If you voted Greens/Labor you get exactly what you deserve – an intrusive, regulating, inefficient, wasteful, arrogant, dog hating, family loathing bunch of nincompoops. Time for passive resistance. Ignore them.

My dog has a lifetime registration. He has a microchip and he is totally legal. For the entire time we have had him, he has had the same ‘people’ and he has had the same address and we have had the same mobile number. I may have missed the information in the article but I wonder if the registration each year has a cost attached to it?

russianafroman12:13 pm 05 Apr 21

I see no valid reason why. Those “lost dogs” have no owners and are being dumped. The problem began with this nonsense idea that we shouldn’t exterminate stray and lost dogs, instead holding them in RSPCA facilities until the end of time. This is a classic example of penalizing and subjugating people due to awkward and insane laws by the government.

Capital Retro10:42 am 05 Apr 21

What if there is no new information to pass on, do we still have to confirm this?

It’s getting more like “go to your homes and await instructions”, every day.

I would not trust this high taxing local government. Could be they are gathering details so as to bring in an annual dog registration fee.

pollyhartley3:49 pm 05 Apr 21

Pah! They’re not a local government @Acton, nowhere near as effective or accessible, with nothing to guide expenditure, taxation rises and fees as the State Governments do with the Councils in our States, many of which are approaching the size of the ACT or even over double like Brisbane City Council. If we scratched the surface we’d be shocked at the $waste and the inefficiencies I’m sure. We experience them in our housing costs and pet registrations do we not?

Daily Digest

Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Every day we package the most popular Riotact stories and send them straight to your inbox. Sign-up now for trusted local news that will never be behind a paywall.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.