Complaints

A dog owner's responsibilities include keeping their dog under control at all times and ensuring their dog does not cause a nuisance, injury or distress. Council's contracted Dog Control Officers will respond to complaints and work proactively with dog owners to educate in the first instance. Any queries or complaints should be lodged with Council on (03) 440 0056. This is a 24/7 service and our customer services team or after hours service team will connect with our Dog Control team to follow up.

Aggressive Behaviour

We know how distressing it can be to see or be a part of an aggressive dog incident (and that's regardless of whether you or your dog are a victim, you're a witness to it, or even if its your own dog doing the attacking). If you are a victim or witness to an aggressive dog, you should report the dog to council.

Barking Dogs

Barking dogs can be a real cause of concern to neighbours either at a nuisance level, or by causing serious disruption to their daily activities or to their sleep. Owners are responsible for their dog's barking and need to take the necessary steps to minimise the effect on neighbours.

Complaints are kept confidential and our dog control offices will work proactively with the dog owner(s) to educate in the first instance, as they may not know the dog is barking or howling.

If education on its own does not work, the council's contracted dog control officers may respond to complaints of persistent barking/howling by:

• entering the property where the dog is kept (except the house), at a reasonable hour, to inspect the dog's living conditions; and/or
• issue a written warning requiring the person to take all reasonable actions to cease the disturbance; or
• if necessary, impound a dog if a further complaint is received about continual barking or howling.

Council has 'barking collars' that can be loaned out free of charge to assist dog owners with training.

Fouling in Public Places

Dog faeces on the footpath or verge is something that most annoys members of the community, who have a right to walk around the towns and through the parks without the risk if stepping in dog mess.

If you are a dog owner you are responsible for cleaning up after your dog if it fouls in a public place.

You must at all times while exercising the dog, whether within a designated exercise area or any public place, carry a suitable receptacle to remove and dispose of dog poop immediately after the dog has deposited them.

In the event that your dog is witnessed fouling in any public place, or on land or premises other than your own property, you may be fined $300 under Council's Dog Control Bylaw.

Roaming Dogs

This is the biggest consistent dog control issue we have in our district. Roaming dogs pose a great risk, not least that the roaming dog itself may get hurt. We want our community and our dogs to be safe at all times so encourage the community to report any roaming dogs immediately to Council to let our dog control officers know.

Worrying Stock

Dogs roaming near livestock can be distressing for the animals and for the farmers whose stock is their livelihood. Thankfully we don't get too many of these calls, but let us know if you see it happening.

Contacts

If you have a query or a concern to report please call the main Council number (03) 440 0056 anytime (this is also the after-hours service number).