Council urges more responsible dog ownership

Noosa Council is urging pet owners to take more responsibility for their pets after an increase in dog attacks over the past month.

Incidents of dog attacks, dogs found off-leash in on-leash areas, dog owners allowing dogs to run out of control on beaches, and dogs not being properly contained in their property have been on the rise in recent weeks.

Although this trend is apparent across the Shire, areas of particular concern are Peregian Beach and North Sunshine Beach.

Since the new Noosa Council started on January 2, officers from council's Community Order and Public Safety team have dealt with 10 reports of aggressive dogs and 16 dog attacks, 14 of which have occurred in the past 2 weeks.

This is very concerning especially because the majority of attacks have occurred because of a lack of supervision of the dogs involved, poor maintenance of the property or inattentive owners allowing dogs to escape/run off wildly.

Council is reminding dog owners to:

• ensure proper maintenance of the containment on the property where your dog is kept
• walk your dog on leash in public areas at all times - unless in a leash free area
• ensure your dog is always under effective control, even in leash free areas. Don't let your dog run away so he cannot hear and see you
• make sure your dog does not approach and annoy other people or dogs.

Council has increased monitoring of problem areas with officers patrolling at various times of the day including early morning and late evening. Dogs found off-leash in an on-leash area may attract a maximum penalty of $2200, while if your dog attacks another animal or person, the offending dogs' owner may face prosecution through the Court and a maximum fine of $33000.

11 February 2014