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Thank you everyone for your participation.

Darebin City Council reviews its Domestic Animal Management Plan every four years. The Plan outlines how the City will manage domestic animals like dogs and cats. The plan directs how Council will invest its time and resources, and how we will support the management of domestic animals and the safety and wellbeing of the wider community.

The Domestic Animal Management Plan 2022-2025 was endorsed by Council on 28th February 2022. You can read the plan here.


What’s happened so far?

Darebin City Council worked with Moreland City Council and Whittlesea City Council and engaged with the community to understand views about animal management. Community feedback was used to help prepare a draft Domestic Animal Management Plan specific to each municipality.

In April 2021 we asked for your feedback about what was important to you about animal management. We listened to your feedback and it informed the Draft Domestic Animal Management Plan 2022-2025. We then came back to you to ask you if we got the plan right.


About the Animal Management Plan 2022-2025:

You can read the Domestic Animal Management Plan 2022-2025.

The draft Plan outlined Council’s animal management services, programs and policies in compliance with the Domestic Animals Act 1994. It aims to:

  • promote responsible pet ownership within the community
  • protect the welfare of dogs, cats and other animals
  • reduce the incidence of nuisance caused by domestic animals
  • minimise the risk of dog attacks on people, dogs and other animals
  • address the overpopulation of cats
  • protect the local flora and fauna and environmentally significant areas within the municipality
  • provide support for vulnerable people and their pets
  • be inclusive and support people to achieve pet ownership
  • encourage pet adoption and fostering
  • foster partnerships with neighbouring Councils and other key stakeholders to achieve best practice

What you told us about the draft Domestic Animal Management Plan 2022-2025:

The community was given opportunity to provide feedback on the DRAFT DAMP in October/November 2021.The responses received were largely supportive of the DAMP with the main concerns raised being:

  • Greater Local Law Officer presence
  • Infringements issued to people doing the wrong thing
  • Greater control of cats
  • Community education on responsible pet ownership at home and also when out and about in public
  • Reduction of domestic animal predation on wildlife and habitat destruction caused by domestic animals

What we changed for the final Domestic Animal Management Plan 2022-2025:

  • Increasing meet your Local Law Officer (LLO) sessions form 2 to 4 (one for each LLO Area).
  • Greater LLO presence in parks. LLOs perform patrols in sensitive habitat areas, and not just the big/popular parks during normal business hours but also after hours
  • Confirmation that LLOs will address non-compliance with warnings and infringements
  • Purchase of additional cat traps to meet demand would be considered
  • Review bin placement in parks, need for additional bins and location of signage
  • Providing community education regarding importance of biodiversity and protection of sensitive areas

If you would like to speak to someone in your preferred language about the draft Domestic Animal Management Plan 2022-2025, please contact us or call 8470 8470 to be connected to a Language Aide or an interpreter.


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