Paws-itive step forward for animal management in Hepburn Shire

Published on 25 February 2026

Council has adopted its Domestic Animal Management Plan 2026–2029 (DAMP), following a comprehensive service review and extensive community engagement.

The DAMP sets out Council’s strategic direction, priorities and evaluation measures for the management of pets across the Shire. It focuses on promoting responsible pet ownership, reducing nuisance behaviour, improving animal welfare, strengthening public safety and protecting local biodiversity.

Mayor, Cr Tony Clark, said pets play an important role in community life and bring significant health and wellbeing benefits.

“Pets are valued members of many households across our Shire. The DAMP promotes responsible pet ownership and highlights the importance of pet registration to help reunite lost animals with their owners. When pets are not managed responsibly, nuisance behaviour and dog attacks can have serious impacts on our community and environment,” he said.

The new DAMP outlines a range of actions and initiatives to support responsible pet ownership, including improved pet welfare outcomes, increased registration compliance, responses to dog attacks, increased cat confinement, and management of nuisance complaints.

“As someone who is blind that relies on a service dog, my trusted companion Timmy, I appreciate the contribution that pets can make in the community,” said Cr Clark.

The adoption of a DAMP is a requirement under the Domestic Animals Act 1994 which requires councils to manage dogs, cats and domestic animal businesses, balancing community safety, animal welfare, environmental protection and compliance over a four-year period.

View a copy of the DAMP in the meeting agenda. A final version of the DAMP will be made available over the coming weeks.