Animal care and control

1. Ensure your dog is microchipped and registered
2. Ensure your dog wears a collar and tag showing the name of the animal and the owner's current address/telephone number
3. Pick up your dog's faeces and put it in the bin
4. Don't allow your dog to roam
5. Exercise your dog regularly on-leash or at a designated off-leash area
6. Keep your dog under 'effective control' when in a public place
7. Keep your dog happy and healthy
8. Give your dog shelter and access to fresh water

1. Ensure your cat is mircochipped and registered
2. Ensure your cat wears a collar and tag showing the name of the animal and the owner's current address/telephone number
3. Have your cat desexed
4. Do not allow your cat out at night
5. Do not allow your cat to roam 
6. Do not allow your cat to enter local bushland or attack native wildlife
7. Keep your cat happy and healthy

It is the responsibility of every dog owner to ensure that they clean up after their dog. The problem of dog faeces on public roads and footpaths and in parks is a constant source of complaint received by Council.  Every time it rains, everything on our roads, footpaths and parks, washes down the stormwater drains and into your local waterways (including dog waste).  The high nutrients in dog faeces contribute to toxic algal blooms and aquatic weeds.  These algal blooms and weeds can harm the marine organisms that keep our waterways healthy.

What you can do?

• when walking your dog, carry bags to collect your dog's droppings and then put it in a bin
• don't let your dog out unsupervised to defecate on your neighbour's lawn or in the street
• take responsibility for your pet.

Not only does it affect our waterways, but dog droppings contain bacteria which can be harmful to humans. Dog faeces can contain infectious roundworm eggs that can cause serious illness for humans.

Our rangers can fine owners who don't clean up after their dog. The Companion Animals Act provides for a $275 fine for failure to remove dog faeces.

From time to time Local Land Services conducts cat-trapping campaigns in bushland areas where there is evidence that native wildlife is being threatened by feral cats.

For this reason it is important that domestic cats are microchipped and identified with a collar and tag so that if they are trapped they can be returned to their owners.

As many native animals feed from dusk till dawn, it is at this time that they are most vulnerable to attack from roaming cats.

To prevent these attacks, all residents are asked to make arrangements to confine their cats inside at night.

Cats that are well cared for and controlled by their owners seldom cause problems to the community.

It is the stray and feral cats that we need to target and control.

Residents can help by ensuring that their pets are kept separate from stray and feral cats to stop unwanted breeding and prevent the spread of disease.

Confining cats is easy

Cats should never be fed until it is time for them to be confined.

Once you invite them in to be fed, keep them in for the night.

If your cat is well behaved you can let them roam freely inside.

Shut the cat in a convenient room where they have a bed and a litter tray if you need to.

For those who don't like cats indoors at all then the garden shed or garage is a suitable alternative for confinement.

Our Pound is located at 446 Riverside Drive, Minnamurra (next to the Minnamurra Waste and Recycling Facility).

Impounded animals 

Our officers will impound dogs and cats if found straying.

Our first priority is to return the animal home.

If the dog or cat is identified by a collar and tag and/or microchip we can contact the owner straight away.

Animals not identified by a microchip are held at our Pound for 7 days.

Microchipped animals are held for 14 days.

Unclaimed animals will be rehomed.

We charge impound and sustenance fees to recover some of the costs associated.

Fees are charged on a daily basis and must be paid prior to the animal's release.

Lost animals

If you've lost your dog or cat, notify us within 72 hours of it going missing.

During normal business hours (Monday to Friday 8.30am-4.30pm) contact (02) 4232 0444.

Outside normal business hours (Monday to Friday before 8.30am or after 4.30pm, weekends and public holidays).

You should also:

• check our pound on a daily basis
• ask around your neighbourhood and check with your neighbours
• check with local vets
• check social media sites such as Facebook community pages, and lost and found pages.

Found animals

If you can't find the owner within a reasonable amount of time, you are required by law to contact Council or take the animal to a pound. The collection of animals by the Rangers is a discretionary service based upon the availability of staff to attend. No animals will be collected after 3 pm daily.

You should:

• check for identification/registration tags - if the animal is wearing a name tag please call the owner
• ask around the neighbourhood to see if anyone has lost their pet 
• put a post on social media sites such as Facebook community pages, and lost and found pages
• take it to a local vet.