A local council is taking its responsible pet ownership message off road to educate the public about law changes and increased fines.
Noosa Council’s local laws officers are heading off road to ensure the electorate’s four-legged friends, and their humans, are playing by the rules.
It’s part of a ‘paws-itively’ proactive push to educate dog owners about off-leash areas and responsible pet ownership.
Mayor Frank Wilkie said it followed Animal Management (Cats and Dogs) Act changes by the state that increases fines for not having a dog under effective control to $834.
“We love our pets and want to ensure they’re not harmed or cause harm to other dogs or people, which is why these regulations exist,” Cr Wilkie said.
“Given the increase in fines, we will be taking an education-before-enforcement approach to ensure our local dog owners are well informed of the rules and the significant fines they risk by not being responsible pet owners.”
Acting local laws and environmental health manager Clint Irwin said keeping a dog under effective control was more than just having it on a leash.
“Effective control of a dog means you must be physically able to hold the dog on the leash and in an off-leash area, such as our off-leash beaches, a dog must be under continuous supervision and control using voice commands, so it needs to be well trained,” he said.
To coincide with the state changes and promote education and voluntary compliance during ATV patrols, council is also installing new signage at Noosa beaches.
“With the new signs we’re hoping to make it clearer for dog owners regarding where exactly dogs are and aren’t permitted so they can be sure they are doing the right thing,” Mr Irwin said.
The Queensland Government made its changes to the Animal Management (Cats and Dogs) Act in response to a rise in dog attacks.
Across Queensland there were 8500 complaints about negative dog behaviour and dog attacks in 2022, with 2500 of those incidents resulting in victims being hospitalised.
Dog-related public hospital emergency department admissions increased 57 per cent from 2021 to 2022.
