Seven unregistered restricted-breed dogs were found on a single Brimbank property, according to a council response last week to a submission to a state government inquiry.
In its submission to the ‘inquiry into the legislative and regulatory framework relating to restricted breed dogs’, the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) said 10 dogs found by Brimbank council between February and June, 2012, were both restricted breed and unregistered – with seven on a single property.
In its submission to the inquiry, the association said dog ownership was “a responsibility, not a right”.
In 2011, amendments were made to the Domestic Animals Act 1994 after four-year-old Ayen Chol was mauled to death in St Albans by a pit bull terrier.
Brimbank council said the number of reports about suspected restricted-breed dogs had climbed since the legislative changes.
“The MAV understands that a substantial number of dogs declared by councils to be restricted-breed were unregistered at the time they came to council’s attention,” the association said.
“All of the 10 dogs declared to be restricted-breed dogs by Brimbank City Council … were unregistered.”
The council told the inquiry the approved standard of restricted breeds was not clear.
It spent nearly $280,000 over two and a half years in an unsuccessful bid to have a Sunshine dog put down.
The council unsuccessfully argued that Mylo, who was found walking unregistered in May, 2012, was a restricted breed.
