Domestic Animal Management Plan

At the November 2025 Council Meeting, the Domestic Animal Management Plan 2026-2029 was endorsed.

The Plan guides the way Council performs its duties to ensure safe and responsible pet ownership in our municipality. It also outlines how Council supports pet owners and non-pet owners when it comes to domestic and stray animals

Key initiatives include the introduction of a cat curfew, mandatory desexing, a subsidised desexing program and ongoing training for Animal Management Officers to support best practice outcomes.

The dusk-to-dawn (7pm-7am) cat curfew is designed to help keep our cats and local wildlife safe and will be introduced in a staged approach, with a focus on education before the curfew begins on 1 July 2026.

The Domestic Animals Act 1994 (the Act) requires all Victorian Councils to prepare a four-yearly Domestic Animal Management Plan. The legislation requirements that a Domestic Animal Management Plan outline the programs, services and policies to address the administration of the Act and the management of domestic animal issues.