We are committed to making it easy for everyone to participate in our engagements. If you have specific requirements or any questions please contact the Community Engagement Team on 9298 8000 or email HaveYourSay@knox.vic.gov.au.

Language and translations

You can have this page translated into our top 10 language groups.

Click the language drop-down in the top right corner of this page. It will have a picture of a world globe next to it 🌍.

If you do not speak one of these languages, contact Council through TIS on 131450.

If you would like a translator at a pop up, please notify the project team as early as possible.

Sight and hearing resources

A text document of this page content is available upon request if your screen reader is not compatible with this webpage.

If you have any other questions, concerns or requests to ensure this engagement is accessible for you, contact us at haveyoursay@knox.vic.gov.au or call 9298 8000.

Drop-in sessions

The locations of the drop-in sessions are physically accessible. They are in busy locations so may be noisy and have a lot of people moving around. If you need a quiet space or one to one conversation please contact the project team directly.

To develop a new Domestic Animal Management Plan that aligns with State Government legislation and community aspirations.

• Community feedback - through this consultation and on the draft Plan.
• Legislation - our plan must be in line with current legislation including the Domestic Animal Management Act 1994
• We will also conduct research, benchmarking, and review best practice. This will include service data from recent years.
• The final endorsement of the Domestic Animal Management Plan will be by Council in a public meeting.

• Dog and cat owners in Knox
• Users of Knox public spaces where domestic animals may be present
• Non pet owners who may come across domestic animals within Knox
• Animal welfare and care groups

For this project we will be engaging our community at the level of Consult on the International Association of Public Participation (IAP2) Spectrum. This means we will listen to what you say and consider it when we make a decision.

Most other parts of the plan are able to be influenced by community feedback.

• Legislated parts of the plan - Domestic Animal Act 1994
• The application of fees for registering domestic animals
• Council operational decisions e.g staff training etc

We’re renewing our Domestic Animal Management Plan 2021-25 in line with state law (the Domestic Animals Act 1994) that all councils prepare a plan every four years.

Your feedback helped shape our draft Domestic Animal Management Plan to support responsible dog and cat ownership in Knox for the next four years.

Our draft Plan guides the management of dogs and cats, including:

• promoting responsible pet ownership
• minimising risk of dog attacks
• reducing potential for dogs and cats to create nuisance
• encouraging pet desexing, registration and identification
• addressing overpopulation and euthanasia rates
• effective control of dogs in public

Proposed initiatives in the draft Plan include:

• Investigating ways to increase the number of desexed dogs
• Reviewing rules around on and off-leash areas
• Increasing public education about responsible pet ownership to encourage people to pick up after their pets

We’re calling for community feedback to better understand the views of all our community on the draft Plan that has been developed following our first round of community engagement in April 2025 on Knox City Council's current and emerging issues related to cats and dogs.

This includes promoting responsible pet ownership, minimising the potential for cats to create a nuisance and encouraging pet registration and identification.

In 2022, a Council resolution was made to make an order under section 25 of the Domestic Animals Act 1994. This order mandated that all cats are to stay on their owner’s property and not trespass on another’s property. The draft Domestic Animal Management Plan 2026-2029 does not propose to review or change this order.

We’re calling for community feedback to better understand the views of all our community on the draft Plan that has been developed following our first round of community engagement in April 2025 on Knox City Council's current and emerging issues related to cats and dogs.

This includes promoting responsible pet ownership, minimising the potential for dogs and cats to create a nuisance, encouraging pet registration and identification, minimising the risk of dog attacks, effective control of dogs in public areas and dog on and off-leash areas.

The plan is unable to change statewide legislation, such as the requirement under the Domestic Animals Act 1994 for dogs and cats to be microchipped, registered and wear council tags.

However, some proposed actions in the draft Plan require further exploration and community engagement during the life of the Plan before we make final recommendations. Before we explore these initiatives, we want to understand your level of support for these ideas.

We encourage you to share your ideas about how we can best manage dogs and enjoy our community spaces together.

We’re calling for community feedback to better understand the views of all our community, and current and emerging issues related to cats and dogs for pet owners and non-pet owners on the topic areas covered by the Domestic Animal Management Plan.

This includes promoting responsible pet ownership, minimising the risk of dog attacks and potential for dogs to create a nuisance and effective control of dogs in public areas and dog on and off-leash areas.

Some proposed actions in the draft Plan require further exploration and community engagement before we make final recommendations. Before we explore these initiatives, we want to understand your level of support for these ideas.

We encourage you to share your ideas about how we can best manage dogs and enjoy our community spaces together.

We’re calling for community feedback to better understand the views of all our community, and current and emerging issues related to cats and dogs for pet owners and non-pet owners on the topic areas covered by the Domestic Animal Management Plan.

This includes promoting responsible pet ownership, minimising the risk of dog attacks and potential for dogs to create a nuisance, effective control of dogs in public areas and dog on and off-leash areas.

Some proposed actions in the draft Plan require further exploration and community engagement before we make final recommendations. Before we explore these initiatives, we want to understand your level of support for these ideas. We encourage you to share your ideas about how we can best manage dogs and enjoy our community spaces together.

The draft Plan will investigate ways to increase desexing rates of dogs in the community to support responsible pet ownership by reducing unwanted litters, lowering euthanasia rates at the pound and addressing behavioural issues such as aggression, roaming animals and nuisance behaviour.

Some proposed actions in the draft Plan require further exploration and community engagement before we make final recommendations. Before we explore these initiatives, we want to understand your level of support for these ideas. We encourage you to share your ideas about how we can best manage dogs and enjoy our community spaces together.

Of the 16,640 registered dogs, 2,092 (12.5% are not desexed).

Some proposed actions in the draft Plan require further exploration and community engagement before we make final recommendations. Before we explore these initiatives, we want to understand your level of support for these ideas.

Community feedback is open until Wednesday 15 October.

We want to hear from pet owners and non-pet owners because responsible pet ownership benefits everyone.

Stay up to date with this community consultation and subscribe to notifications at our Have Your Say website.

The Domestic Animals Act 1994 mainly deals with the management of dogs and cats.

There are about 16,640 registered dogs and 6,482 registered cats in Knox.