South Burnett Regional Council announce dog rego home inspections

There are more than 1000 unregistered dogs in the region, following a dramatic fee hike. Now South Burnett Council will inspect local properties, issuing penalties on unsuspecting owners.

South Burnett Council has introduced residential inspections where each unregistered dog will incur a hefty fine.

The South Burnett Regional Council will rollout systematic dog registration inspections of South Burnett properties following a contentious vote at Wednesday’s meeting.

‘Absolute disgrace’: Dog owners up in arms over massive fee hikes

There are more than 1000 previously registered dogs, whose owners have not yet renewed their registrations.

The inspections will run from March 1 to June 30, between 8am and 5pm.

Failure to register dogs will result in a fine of $287 per animal.

South Burnett Citizen of the Year much-loved and respected

Rural residential dog owners were left with a bad taste in their mouths in December after finding out they were facing a massive 367 per cent hike in their annual dog registration fee.

Councillor Jane Erkens engaged in heated discussion with fellow councillors and was issued with a warning from Mayor Brett Otto for her interruptions.

“I’m sure every councillor here has had feedback about how much we’re charging as it is a big amount,” Mrs Erkens said.

“If you’ve got 1000 unpaid dog registrations, don’t stir up the hornet’s nest and let’s revisit it in March at the next meeting.”

Councillor Kirstie Schuhmacher said systematic inspections were a core council responsibility.

“We send out our dog registration renewals, ask people to register and then we send people out to check,” Mrs Schumacher said.

“This is a crucial part of our animal management.

“I accept that not everyone will agree with the fees but I would very much like to support that the program continues to happen as normal.”

Failure to re-register dogs will cost South Burnett locals, councillors have decided.

Councillors acknowledged there was a lack of community engagement when the fees were changed last year.

Mrs Schuhmacher reiterated the importance of residents being reminded of registration renewal before the inspections started.

Council will hire short-term contract staff to perform the inspections so compliance officers can continue performing there usual roles.

Councillor Kathy Duff said there were more serious issues in the region which the council should be chasing.

“I would rather see us spend our resources on issues like weeds that are going to wreck our rural industries,” Mrs Duff said.

The RSPCA in Kingaroy collects lost, injured and unwanted dogs.

It is a $450,000 per year service for the council.

South Burnett dog registrations fund a considerable amount of this expense.

The RSPCA Kingaroy cares for animals in the region.

Councillor Scott Henschen said RSPCA service could be dropped completely, which would leave the dogs who get into trouble with nowhere to go.

“We’ve had long discussions about this - we’re trying to fall in line with animal management and make it current with other councils,” Mr Henschen said.

Mr Otto said it was irresponsible as a council to not follow-up on registrations and it was a requirement by the state government.

“Do not give our staff a hiding over this, they are just doing their jobs,” Mr Otto said.

Councillor Henschen, Schuhmacher, Potter, Jones voted in favour of the motion while Councillor Erkens and Duff voted against.