Council will come knocking at your door

Now’s the time to make sure your pets are registered and microchipped, or you might be fined

From October onwards, Toowoomba Regional Council will be going door to door, checking that all dogs older than 12 weeks are registered and microchipped and that all cats are microchipped.

The inspection program will cover the whole Toowoomba region, including rural areas, and is aimed at improving the accuracy of Council’s records and to easily return lost pets to their owners.

If your dog is unregistered, or if either your dog or cat is not microchipped, you will be fined

$261 per offence. If your dog or cat was older than 12 weeks on July 1, 2009, you are not required to microchip your pet, but it is still recommended.

So, if you haven’t registered your dog, or you’ve let the registration lapse, now is the time to get your paperwork in order. To register your pet, you can complete an online form on Council’s website, or simply print the application form at home and mail it back to Council at 4 Little Street.

You can also visit a Customer Service Centre.

Microchipping your pet will ensure that you can be contacted in the event they go missing and are found by someone.

A microchip is a permanent form of identification, whereby your pet’s details and your contact information are entered into a national database.

Your information will not become public and will remain confidential.

For example, veterinarians who scan a pet’s microchip can see the owner’s details (so they can be called if their missing pet turns up), but are not allowed to share the owner’s details with the person who found the pet.

You also don’t need to worry about causing your pet undue distress, as the procedure is relatively painless and takes only a couple of seconds.