Dangerous Dog Owners to Pay More for Dog Registration

Published 23 August 2021

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Council is changing its pet registration charges to make things fairer for people who are doing the right thing.

Registration fees for responsible pet owners will increase this financial year by approximately 2%.  

However fees for owners of dangerous and menacing dogs will increase between 23% and 84% (depending on compliance).

Mayor Peter Flannery said Council needs to cover the costs of its compliance program, but he didn’t want responsible pet owners to have to foot that bill or be tarred with the same brush.

“There are around 68,049 registered dogs in our region and only 382 of those are dangerous or menacing animals,” he said.

“Clearly the vast majority of dog owners are doing the right things and I don’t think it’s fair that they should pay more in their registration fees because of a few bad eggs.

“This is a cost recovery exercise to help Council cover the expense of keeping our community safe from regulated dogs, this is not a source of revenue.

“We are taking a carrot and stick approach to this community safety problem though, which means we’re offering incentives to dangerous dog owners to help them keep their registration costs down.

“We are offering a compliance discount of 25% on regulated dog  registration fees if you  maintain compliance and a desexing incentive of 20% to dogs that are classified as menacing.

“The good news is we’re seeing year-on-year improvements in compliance since we introduced our annual audit program and zero tolerance policy.

“Last year non-compliance with the legislation criteria improved enormously from 31% down to 8.1%  last financial year, and I want to keep improving these fantastic results.

“Personally I believe the public interest and public safety should be enough for these dog owners to do the right thing, but for some people it’s not.

“Hopefully by hitting them in the hip pocket we can help change that behaviour, without responsible pet owners having to carry that cost.

“Additionally, at this year’s LGAQ conference Moreton Bay Regional Council will be pushing for the State Government to prohibit the ownership of restricted dogs in our state. Currently there is no consistency in Queensland, with decisions regarding the ownership of restricted dog breeds individually determined by the 77 different Councils.

“I’ll also be asking for the LGAQ’s support to lobby for legislative changes that would empower Queensland’s magistrates to use the powers of the court in prohibiting problematic dog owners from keeping animals.

“The emotional and physical scars of a dog attack are lifelong for their victims, so if you’re guilty of offences under the Animal Management Act then frankly I don’t think you’re fit to give animals the love and care they deserve.”

Council has written to the regulated dog owners in our region advising of the fee increase.

For more information on regulated dog registration fees, please visit: https://www.moretonbay.qld.gov.au/Council/Governance/Fees-and-Charges

For more information about the definitions of regulated dogs, please visit: https://www.moretonbay.qld.gov.au/Services/Animals/Regulated-Dogs