Domestic Animal Management Plan

A detailed background report was developed which outlined:

• an overview of the local government area
• relevant state and local policies
• an analysis of Council’s current Domestic Animal Management Plan
• emerging issues in domestic animal management
• internal staff consultation
• current animal management statistics.

A detailed community engagement program was delivered to encourage the community to have their say on domestic animal management issues.

Approximately 1,624 people who live, work or visit the Cities of Darebin, Moreland and Whittlesea provided feedback.

Feedback was gathered through three methods:

• a detailed online survey which was available through a dedicated project webpage
• community pop-ups held at key venues and locations across the local government areas
• telephone interviews conducted with key stakeholders.

Online survey 

• 1,255 surveys completed
• 1,763 unique comments received.

12 community pop-ups

• 369 participants
• 1,286 unique comments received.

Key stakeholder engagement

• 10 key stakeholder interviewed.

The feedback received from community members has been used to inform the priorities and actions outlined in the Domestic Animal Management Plan.

Relevant Council officers from the Cities of Darebin, Moreland and Whittlesea participated in a joint Council planning session to:

• analyse the community feedback
• determine appropriate actions for the respective Domestic Animal Management Plans
• identify opportunities for partnership and cost-savings.

To finalise the plan and ensure that community feedback was captured in the first round of community engagement, a formal public exhibition period was held from 8 to 30 September 2021.

Council received 110 submissions on the draft plan on the following topics:

• proposed cat curfew
• pet registration
• dogs off leash
• dog waste
• dog parks and walking paths
• proposed mandatory cat desexing
• dog attacks
• barking dogs
• excess animal permits
• education initiatives.

The public exhibition period included:

• an online presentation and question and answer session held on 23 September 2021
• an e-newsletter sent to 12,000 recipients to advise that the draft plan was available for feedback and inviting residents to attend the online presentation
• information and polls on the Council's engagement platform
• a media release, web and social media content to promote the public exhibition period.

Changes to the final plan were made due to community feedback from this public exhibition.