Reminder to register your pet

GOLDEN Plains Shire residents with pets are reminded to register their dogs or cats by Thursday 10 April.

Under the State Government’s Domestic Animals Act 1994, all dogs and cats over the age of three months must be registered by that date. “Registering cats and dogs means that if they get lost or wander away from home, council is more likely to be able to return them back to their owners,” a Golden Plains Shire spokesperson said.

“The money from pet registrations goes towards a number of services provided by council, including responding to and investigating dog attacks, nuisance reports and barking dog complaints, animal welfare and cruelty reports, investigating unregistered cat and dog breeders, educating pet owners about responsible pet ownership, and ensuring compliance from dog breeders, boarding kennels and catteries.

“The registration fees also go towards the impounding of dogs and cats when the owners cannot be identified.”

Golden Plains Shire has recently upgraded the animal registration system, so residents are asked to double check that the information contained in their renewal notice is correct.

If any information needs to be updated, email [email protected] .

“Council identified an opportunity to upgrade the registration system which had been in place since 2002 to allow our community safety officers better access to the system when they are out in the community,” the spokesperson said.

“The information kept in the new system is more accessible, meaning that animals can be identified quickly and efficiently when needed.”

Residents can pay via BPAY, Australia Post Billpay or the Golden Plains Shire website.

Cat registration renewals have a new BPAY reference number this year.