LGA welcomes move to strengthen dog laws
The Dog and Cat Management (Breeder Reform) Amendment Bill introduced into Parliament on 24 September by Deputy Premier, the Hon Susan Close is largely consistent with many of LGA’s recommendations.
The Bill aims to introduce a much-expanded regime of dog and cat breeder licencing laws including an assessment system for breeders, criminal background checks on applicants, fines of up to $10,000 for breeding animals without a licence, and the ability to suspend and cancel breeder licences.
The reforms also include increased penalties for dog owners whose pet attacks people, dogs and other animals.
Advocacy in action on dog reforms
In May 2024, the State Government invited feedback through a discussion paper on an earlier draft version of the Bill.
LGA engaged in significant advocacy and made a submission based on the views of member councils, seeking several changes to the draft legislation.
As a result of this, many proposals which featured in the earlier version of the Bill no longer appear in the legislation introduced into Parliament by Minister Close.
The key changes include:
- no requirement for councils to construct cat detention facilities or to make arrangements for these
- councils will not be required to enforce the new dog and cat breeder laws
- the Dog and Cat Management Board , Department of Environment and Water and/or the RSPCA will be responsible for enforcing new dog and cat breeder laws
- enforcement of dog and cat breeder laws will be funded by increased breeder registration fees and collected by the Dog and Cat Management Board, through Dogs and Cats Online. Dog registration fees remitted by council to the Dog and Cat Management Board will not be used for this purpose.
A summary of the major changes is available for members to download on the LGA website.
Send us your feedback
Feedback on the draft Bill is welcomed and can be provided to LGA Director Advocacy, Andrew Lamb, along with any questions you may have.