Council's By-Law 4 - Dogs, limits the number of dogs kept on premises and manages and controls dogs in the Council area.

A person must not, without the Council's permission keep:

More than one (1) dog in a small dwelling;

More than two (2) dogs in premises other than a small dwelling.

Dogs - Application for exemption to permit the keeping of more than two (2) dogs(94 kb)
or use our online form.

For more information:  By-law No. 4 - Dogs

Dog faeces are unsightly and unpleasant, particularly on footpaths and in parks. They contain toxins that are harmful to the environment. Every time someone fails to pick up their dog's droppings from the footpath, street, grass verge, park or beach, this faecal pollution will get flushed into the stormwater system next time it rains. When exercising your dog in public places, you are required to clean up after them. Always carry a bio-degradable bag when exercising your dog and dispose of the waste correctly.

Bins have been prominently placed in areas of high use, particularly those areas where complaints have been received from our community.

Clean up after your dog!!(159 kb) 

According to the Dog and Cat Management Act 1995 dog owners must ensure that their dogs:

• Do not wander the streets without their owner or go into another person's property
• Do not attack a person lawfully entering premises
• Do not go into a school, kindergarten or child care centre without permission
• Do not go into a shop, or a place where food and drink is sold or prepared (except pet shops, veterinary offices or dog grooming parlour)
• Do not rush or chase a vehicle

Owners should also ensure their dogs are:

• Identified with a registration tag at all times
• Physically restrained while being transported in the open tray of a utility, truck or similar vehicle
• Greyhound dogs must have muzzles securely fixed to their mouths and must be under effective control by means of physical restraint while being exercised in public.

Dogs and the Law (779 kb)

The Dog and Cat Management Act 1995 requires that Council administers and enforces the provisions of the Act relating to dogs and cats within its area.

The City of Tea Tree Gully promotes and supports responsible dog ownership.

Dog owners are responsible for ensuring their dog's barking does not cause a nuisance to neighbours. Often the dog owner can be unaware that their dog is causing a nuisance as they may not be home when the barking occurs.

If you are concerned about the level of noise a dog is creating, you may choose to resolve the issue with the dog owner or contact us for assistance to resolve the problem.

Complaints

If you'd like us to assist you to resolve a dog noise complaint, please contact us on 8397 7313 during office hours.

What will we do

Our initial action will be to write to the dog owner and advise them of the complaint and also send a letter to the person making the complaint advising of our actions. 

Problem solving

If you advise that the noise problem still exists, we will ask you to keep a barking dog diary for 14 days.

The diary is important to our investigations - from this we can obtain an accurate record of what happens and assists us in deciding whether there is a level of nuisance that we can act on. The information in your diary will also help us to work out why the dog is barking and enable us to work with the owner to reduce the nuisance.

We will contact adjoining neighbours to ask them to let us know if the dog's barking is causing them a nuisance too. Council will visit the dog owner and work with them to resolve the problem by negotiating an action plan with specific actions and timelines to rectify the nuisance.

If the problem continues

Council will review information from all sources to determine whether formal enforcement will be taken.

Enforcement

If the problem remains unresolved, the owner may be issued with an Expiation Notice and a Notice of Intent requiring them to satisfactorily remedy the problem, otherwise a formal Control (Barking Dog) Order will be imposed.

A Control Order is a mandatory requirement for the dog owner to take whatever action Council decides is reasonably necessary to restrain the dog and remedy the problem.

Council is responsible for investigating dog attack or dog harassment incidents and takes them very seriously. We encourage people to report dog attacks on people or pets.

A thorough investigation of the incident will be carried out. You will be required to make a written statement and may be asked for any information relating to medical treatment or veterinary treatment for evidence. You may be asked to take photographs of the injuries sustained.

We will ask for your contact details and a description of the incident, your details will remain confidential.

To report a dog attack or dog harassment incident please call our Inspection Team on 8397 7313 during office hours. If you are involved in a dog attack incident, outside of our office hours, please call our emergency service on 1300 788 131.

Good Dogs (242 kb)