MidCoast Council rangers pick-up hundreds of dogs each year and secure them in its pound facility.
In the 2016-17 financial year, staff placed 342 dogs/cats in its pound, with only 117 being released to their owners, 202 were rehomed and 23 were euthanased; with the cost of pound facilities management and animal control equipment around $40,000.
The need to easily reunite lost pets with their owners prompted the NSW government to develop a new service, a registry, that can be updated online or at MidCoast Council.
It is called the NSW Pet Registry and in addition to helping reunite lost pets, it is used by pet breeders, vets and authorised identifiers, and allows people to access information on an animal they plan to purchase.
The Pet Registry can be found at www.petregistry.nsw.gov.au and also enables the payment of registration fees. The fees are used to provide animal management related services and may include ranger services, pound facilities, dog refuse bins, educational and other companion animal-related activities.
According to the Office of Local Government, failure to register your cat or dog when required to do so you may result in a fixed penalty notice of $275, or a court may award a maximum penalty of up to $5500 or up to $6500 if the dog is a restricted dog or declared a dangerous or menacing dog.
