Companion Animal Action Plan

The Inner West Community Strategic Plan (CSP) Our Inner West 2036 identifies the community's vision for the future, long-term goals and strategies, and how to measure progress towards that vision.

The CSP is structured around a guiding principle: to work together in a way that is creative, caring and just. This reflects the values of the Inner West community, underpins community expectations of how Council will interact with its residents and is the foundation for all decision-making, actions taken and management of resources. 

Reviewed annually, the detailed four-year Delivery Program and annual Operational Plan and Budget will show the activities Council will undertake during its term of office to help achieve the long-term objectives set out in Our Inner West 2036.

As outlined in the diagram below, the CAAP responds to the Community Strategic Plan, Strategic Direction 4: Healthy, resilient, and caring communities and Delivery Program Outcome 4.3: People have opportunities to participate and develop their health and wellbeing.

The CAAP has also been developed in line with:

• Recreation Needs Study: A Healthier Inner West
• Inner West Local Strategic Planning Statement (LSPS)
• Community Engagement Framework
• GreenWay Biodiversity Strategy

This Plan has a four-year life cycle with updates reported to Council annually.

Introduced by the NSW State Government in 1998, The Companion Animals Act 1998 (the Act) and the Companion Animals Regulation 2018 (the Regulation), are to provide for the effective and responsible care and management of companion animals. 

The fact that an animal is not strictly a “companion" does not prevent it being a companion animal for the purposes of the Act. All dogs are treated as companion animals, even working dogs on rural properties, guard dogs, police dogs and corrective services dogs. A companion animal is not to be confused with an assistance animal, which are specially trained to alleviate the effects of a person’s disability and are recognised under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992. As with all companion animals, assistance animals must be desexed, lifetime registered ($0 fee), and on-leash in public places, unless within a designated dog off-leash area.

The Act sets down controls, including:

• the registration and identification requirements for dogs and cats;
• the need for dogs in a public place to be under effective control at all times and on a leash, except when in a designated dog off-leash area;
• the circumstances that a dog and cat may be declared a nuisance;
• the circumstances that if a dog rushes at, attacks, bites, harasses or chases, whether or not any injury is caused to a person or animal, the owner of the dog, or person in charge of the dog is guilty of an offence;
• the areas in which dogs and cats are prohibited;
• the reason a companion animal may be lawfully seized;
• the requirement that a dog owner or person in charge of a dog must dispose of any dog faeces deposited by their animal in a public place; and
• procedures for dealing with seized or surrendered animals.

The Office of Local Government calculate a quarterly reimbursement for each council based on the registration payments received from owners of cats and dogs residing in their council area. The Companion Animals Act requires councils to use all money paid from this ‘Companion Animals Fund’ for managing companion animals in their local government area. The actions in the CAAP will be partly subsidised by this fund.

The exact number of companion animals in the Inner West local government area (LGA) is not known. Various sources of information allow Council to estimate the number of companion animals which currently reside in the LGA.

­The NSW Companion Animals Register (CAR) is a website database for dogs and cats microchipped and registered under the NSW Companion Animals Act 1998. In July 2023, there were approximately 43,900 dogs and 35,000 cats identified on the CAR as residing within the Inner West LGA. These numbers continue to increase around 5% every year. 

It is acknowledged however, that there are likely to be more companion animals in the Inner West local government area than identified on the CAR.

Animal Medicines Australia’s report on Pet Ownership in Australia, 2016, states there are more than 24 million pets in Australia, with 38% of households owning a dog and 29% of households owning a cat.

Based on the CAR database information, in the Inner West LGA, approximately 42% of households own a dog and 35% of households own a cat. Census and Inner West Council demographics data indicates there are more households with a dog, than households with children. 

By law, all dogs and cats must be microchipped (“identified”) from the time they are 12 weeks of age. 

Dogs and cats must not be sold or given away unless they have been microchipped. 

More than 150,000 dogs and cats are lost or stolen every year in NSW. Many are impounded because their owners cannot be identified. Early microchipping and lifetime registration is highly recommended as a large percentage of puppies and kittens under 6 months of age are more often lost than any other age group.

By law, dogs and cats must be 'lifetime registered', after microchipping, by the time they reach 12 weeks of age. This is a once-only payment, which covers the cat or dog for its lifetime in NSW, regardless of any changes in ownership.

If your pet has come from overseas or interstate, their microchip may appear blank in NSW, and will need to be added to the NSW Companion Animals Register by an authorised officer e.g. at Council.

The companion animal registration process is administered by the Office of Local Government through, registration agents, or online via the NSW Pet Registry. The registration fee is set by the Companion Animals Act 1998. 

Discounts apply for desexed cats and dogs, eligible pensioners and cats and dogs purchased from certain rehoming organisations, including council pounds and shelters.

From 1 July 2020, owners of cats not desexed by four months of age will be required to pay an annual permit fee in addition to the once-only lifetime registration fee. Exemptions will be in place for cats that are registered by 1 July 2020, those kept for breeding purposes by members of recognised breeding bodies, and those unable to be desexed due to medical reasons.

From 1 July 2020, owners of dogs of a restricted breed or declared to be dangerous will be required to pay an annual permit fee in addition to the once-only lifetime registration fee.

The introduction of annual permits is an effort by the NSW Government to improve health and wellbeing of pets, reduce euthanasia rates and to help address concerns about unowned cats. 

Council has delivered companion animal registration and microchipping events as a means of encouraging pet owners to lifetime register their animals.

The Inner West Council's Companion Animal Services team is within the Regulatory Services division, separate to the Rangers. The team is solely dedicated to the care and management of companion animals.

The team is comprised of a Team Leader, Senior Companion Animal Officer, Companion Animal Officers, a Strategy and Education Officer, and a Registration and Support Officer. 

Duties include 

• Reuniting found companion animals with their owners
• Investigating dog attacks
• Managing dangerous, menacing and restricted breed dogs
• Investigating nuisance complaints
• Proactive and reactive patrols of public areas
• Implementing relevant actions associated with Council’s Companion Animal Action Plan. 
   

Proactive daily park patrols by Officers, community workshops and events, and the placement of a mobile information stand in local parks, provide the Companion Animal Services team with opportunities to educate and assist residents with responsible pet ownership matters.

Council's Companion Animal Officers collect stray and lost dogs from public places. The team make every effort to contact the owner and transport the animal back home.

After Companion Animal Services receives a dog collection request, the team will action this as a matter of priority. Officers use a patient, gentle and force free approach to safely secure lost dogs. They will then search the microchip number and use the linked details to get in contact with the dog’s owner. 

Companion Animal Services endeavours to return lost dogs to their owners as soon as possible, by searching multiple microchip databases, Council records, and utilising social media. The team uses their Inner West Pets Facebook group, and their new Lost and Found Inner West Pets website (innerwest.nsw.gov.au/LostPets) to promote lost and found pets.

If Council is unable to contact the owner of a found pet, the animal is transferred to an approved premise, a local veterinary hospital or Council’s contracted animal shelter.

The Companion Animals Act 1998 requires each Council to have at least one off-leash dog exercise area. 

In 2026, there are 44 dog off-leash exercise areas in the Inner West LGA.

Some dog off-leash exercise areas operate on a time-share basis, meaning dogs can only be exercised off-leash between designated hours each day or when sporting or training activities or special events are not taking place.

Council’s Companion Animal Services team have developed a dog off-leash etiquette code. Dog off-leash etiquette signage has been installed in designated dog off-leash areas and Council recommends that dog walkers follow this advice so that everyone is able to enjoy our shared spaces. 

Areas and conditions where dogs are permitted to exercise off-leash are listed by suburb, in Table B, below.

By law in NSW, all dogs must on-leash in public places, unless within a designated dog off-leash area. Except for the places (and times) in the table below, dogs that are in a public place, in the Inner West LGA, must remain under the effective control of a competent person by means of an adequate chain, cord or leash that is attached to that person. 

Even when on a leash, dogs are or may be prohibited from certain public places. These places are listed at clause 14 of the Companion Animals Act 1998 and include:  within 10 metres of children’s playing apparatus or food preparation or consumption apparatus; school grounds and childcare centres (unless permitted), public bathing or recreation areas.

Companion Animal Services regularly seek and receive feedback from the community to assist in the planning and implementation of companion animal management strategies. Feedback is gathered from face-to-face interactions between Companion Animal Officers and residents, surveys, customer requests lodged via the TechnologyOne Customer Request Management System, and Council’s Recreational Needs Study.

A summary of matters identified is provided below;

• A need for community education regarding responsible pet ownership
• A need for a local animal impound facility, considering the significant distance of the current (Austral) facility, and future (Kurnell) facility
• A need for improved community engagement and compliance through social media promotion and education
• A need for Council to educate dog owners and professional dog walkers regarding community expectations of appropriate etiquette and responsible behaviours when using off-leash areas
• Safety concerns in off-leash areas for dogs; owners failing to control their dogs in public places
• Cat containment strategies
• Discounted desexing programs
• Community access to dog agility equipment in local parks
• Promoting more sustainable solutions for disposal of dog faeces
• Providing clear signage in off-leash areas and areas in which dogs are prohibited
• Access to reputable and affordable dog trainers, and education classes

TBC

TBC

TBC

Dog access to public space (Action 4.4.1)

TBC

Dogs and the environment (Action 4.4.2)

TBC

Uncontrolled, nuisance, and aggressive dogs (Action 4.4.3)

TBC

Roaming dogs (Action 4.4.4)

TBC

Contribution made by dogs and their owners to the community (4.4.5)

TBC

Cat management (Action 4.5.1)

TBC

Contribution made by cats and their owners to the community (4.5.2)

TBC

Other cat matters (Action 4.5.3)

TBC