Danger dogs to be tracked

By Ed Merrison
KNOX City Council has welcomed a State Government initiative to establish a centralised registry of dangerous, restricted and menacing dogs.
The initiative, which follows a spate of dog attacks over the past month, will allow councils to share information for the first time and make it harder for owners to escape dog control restrictions when they move house.
Under the new regulations, a $1000 fine will apply if owners move and fail to notify the council that their dog has been declared dangerous, restricted or menacing, meaning it has attacked, rushed at or intimidated people or their pets.
Knox acting director of corporate development Bill Boomsma said the council kept records of dangerous and restricted breed dogs, as identified through the council’s annual registration process.
“Any additional centralised monitoring process that enables identification and monitoring of dangerous and restricted breed dogs is welcomed,” he said.
In 2005, 75 rushes and 146 attacks by dogs were reported in Knox.
On average, 155 reports of dogs rushing, menacing or attacking have been reported in Knox each year for the past six years, and in 75 to 80 per cent of these cases the victims were animals.
Mr Boomsma said the number of reported “attack” incidents was decreasing, with 190 incidents reported in 2000 compared to only 146 in 2005.
The council’s local law officers respond to reports of an offending animal with an investigation that includes gathering evidence and interviewing witnesses.
If sufficient evidence is available, the offending owner is charged under the Domestic (Feral and Nuisance) Animals Act 1994 (State Legislation), which is heard at the Magistrates’ Court.
A special council committee also considers declaring the dog dangerous or menacing, and any declaration of this nature requires the owner of the offending dog to carry out a range of precautions in regard to housing and control of the animal.
The council estimates that about 75 per cent of all dogs are registered in Knox, even though registration is required by law and ownership of an unregistered dog carries an on-the-spot fine of $205.
Tracking dogs in Victoria is set to become easier to police when new State Government laws requiring the compulsory microchipping of domestic cats and dogs comes into effect from May 2007.
In anticipation of the new laws, which will make an animal’s history available by scanning the chip, the council is already encouraging dog owners to have their dogs microchipped.
The council is currently organising a series of microchipping days, the next being Saturday, 8 April from 10am until 2pm at Ferntree Gully Community Centre.