Aggressive dogs can cause a real danger to other people and animals in the community. Council is required to act upon all complaints received for aggressive dogs. The complainant will be asked to complete a witness statement providing enough information for Council to proceed with an investigation. If the investigation proceeds to Court, the witness may be required to attend any legal proceedings that arise. During Council’s investigation, the witness’s details are not disclosed in any correspondence from Council.
Subject to the outcome of investigation by Council, the dog may be declared to be a regulated dog under the Animal Management (Cats & Dogs) Act 2008. The owner must comply with conditions set out by Council and required under legislation for the keeping a regulated dog and will incur additional registration fees.
There are 3 types of regulated dogs:
Declared dangerous dog;
Declared menacing dog; and/or
Restricted dog.
An authorised local government officer can declare a dog as a dangerous dog if the dog:
has seriously attacked (meaning to attack in a way that causes bodily harm, grievous bodily harm or death), or acted in a way that caused fear, to a person or another animal, or
may, in the opinion of an authorised officer, seriously attack or act in a way that causes fear to a person or animal.
An authorised officer may declare a dog as a menacing dog if the above grounds exist for the dog, except that the attack was not serious.
A restricted dog is a dog of a breed prohibited from importation into Australia under the Customs Act 1901 (Cmwlth).
Depending upon the severity of the attack and the circumstances, the dog may also be seized and impounded and a destruction order may be issued for the dog. In addition the owner may be fined and/or prosecuted.
Restricted dogs
Any of the following breeds or a crossbreed of any of the following breeds, anywhere in the local government area:
American pit bull terrier or pit bull terrier
Dogo Argentino
Fila Brasileiro
Japanese Tosa
Perro de Presa Canario
Presa Canario.
Owners of these breeds must apply to register their animals as restricted dogs with Council and comply with the following controls as listed in the Animal Management (Cats & Dogs) Act 2008.
Identification - The dog must at all times, wear a collar with an attached identifying tag
Muzzling and effective control in public - The dog must not be in a public place unless it is muzzled and under the effective control of someone who has the control of no more than one dog of any breed or type at the same time
De-sexing - All restricted dogs must be desexed
Enclosure - A childproof enclosure must be maintained for the dog at the premises on which the dog is kept.
As a dog owner, you are responsible for keeping your dog in a suitable enclosure and under effective control when you are in public areas.
Please ensure that:
your fence is well maintained, with the gate shut at all times
your dog should not be able to go over, under or through your fence or gate
when in public areas, your dog must be on a leash of no longer than 2 metres, unless you are in an off-leash area
your dog can return to you when called in an off-leash area
you can control your dog on a leash
you take your dog out, this helps decrease aggression, fear or anxiety with other dogs and people
de-sex your dog – this can decrease dog wandering and aggressive behaviour
kids around dogs are supervised – running, yelling, hitting or pulling a dog’s fur will increase the risk of a dog bite.
Report a dog attack
To report a dog attack, please call (07) 4970 0700 immediately. An officer from the Local Laws team will contact you as soon as possible. The officer will want to discuss:
the date, time and location of the attack
a description of the dog (colour, breed, size)
any personal injuries received
where the dog lives or the dog's owner, if known
The officer will then make arrangements to obtain statements from all witnesses and persons involved as part of the investigation.
