Domestic animals

To protect your cat, our native wildlife and to minimize public nuisance, all cats must be confined from 8 p.m. or 9.00 p.m. daylight saving time to 6.00 a.m daily.

The more time your feline family member is kept happy at home the safer they are from roads, fighting and disease, and the more likely native wildlife are to visit our area.

We encourage all cat owners to place bells on your cat’s collar to deter them from hunting wildlife. If you have a cat wandering on your premises, you can hire a cat trap from the Council. A security deposit fee of $50 applies, which is refunded when the trap is returned. 

How can I train my cat to stay indoors?

Resources to assist in transitioning your cat to an indoor lifestyle or outdoor enclosure can be found here: www.safecat.org.au. Some simple methods include: 

• Feeding your cat indoors
• Instead of letting your cat back outside as soon as they're finished eating, keep them inside for increasing periods of time
• If you're retraining your cat during the winter, a warm, dry bed to snuggle in may encourage them to stay inside
• Installing a cat run, cat enclosure or cat-proof fencing so your cat can roam safely on your property.  

As a dog owner, it's your responsibility to ensure that your dog is securely confined in its property at all times. Ideally, they should be confined in the backyard and not in the area of the front door, because dog owners are legally required to provide safe access to their front door.

Dogs in front yards should be under supervision and aren't to be left alone if there is no fence or gates are left open. Penalties apply.

To lodge a nuisance noise complaint, you'll need to:

1. Identify the correct address of the offending dog
2. Download the official Barking Dog Diary here
3. Keep a diary of the dog's barking habits for a period of two weeks – noting the date, time and duration of barking, and the reason (if known), as well as the effect the dog's barking is having on you
4. Forward the diary and signed complaint form to Council.

You might like to continue to keep a diary of the dog's barking habits for a further month after you forward it to us. This will monitor whether the problem continues or improves as a result of any action taken.

Once we receive your letter of complaint and diary, Council will:

1. Appoint an officer to investigate your complaint
2. Study the diary for barking patterns that may reveal the reason for the dog's barking
3. Identify whether other residents are being affected by the dog's barking
4. Advise the dog owner of the complaint, discuss possible solutions and inform them of their responsibilities, the offences and penalties.

Council can issue any or all of the following:

• A verbal warning to the dog owner
• A written letter of warning
• A Notice to Comply to abate all nuisance noise immediately.

Should the dog owner fail to comply with the Notice to Comply to abate the nuisance, we may issue an infringement notice against the owner. If the noise complaint persists after an infringement notice has been issued, Council may proceed with legal action against the dog owner in the Magistrates Court and seek a Court Order.

An infringement notice or legal proceeding will not be issued against the dog owner unless the complainant is prepared to give testimony in the Magistrates' Court. Where an order has been made by a Magistrates' Court, it must be complied with. Failure to do so is an offence and a magistrate may impose further penalties.

Example of a diary extract