General News
28 November, 2025
Education for pet owners
CORANGAMITE Shire Council’s dog and cat owners will now have more education about responsible pet ownership after councillors moved to adopt a new Domestic Animal Management Plan at this week’s council meeting.
Councillors unanimously voted to adopt the new plan, which reflects council’s education-first approach to compliance and enforcement of the Domestic Animals Act.
Councillor Laurie Hickey said he was happy to move the motion.
“It’s great to have a draft plan in place educating pet owners towards responsible pet ownership as a key component of this plan,” he said.
“Understanding pet ownership, what registration of domestic animals means, the rights and pitfalls around excessive dog barking and making sure all menacing or dangerous dogs are managed and having domestic animals included in a household emergency plan is important.
Councillor Ruth Gstrein seconded the motion, saying the Domestic Animal Management Plan was an “interesting read”.
“We’ve got 2500 dogs registered and 1000 cats registered, so our local laws team do a really good job,” she said.
“You quite often see on social media pictures of dogs or cats popping up looking at rehoming or reuniting.
“We can’t stress enough the importance of having your dogs and cats registered and microchipped because they’ll come back to you much quicker than having to ring around or drive around the streets.
“I’d like to thank them for the document – there’s been a lot of work done in this space, and I congratulate them on it.
“I think the idea of educating our communities on responsible pet ownership is paramount.”
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