The Dog Management and Control Unit was established on 14 May
2021 [refer Gazette Notice dated 24 May 2021]. Although the Dog
Management and Control Act 2017 has been in existence for 4
years, its implementation has greatly improved with the appointment
of a new Director and provision of resources.
Under the coordination of the Director, dog control supervisor
and the dog control officer, the Unit works closely with the
Correctional Services. Volunteer prisoners are tasked to assist the
unit in administering the dog poisons at areas cited as common
gathering places for stray or diseased dogs that are
unregistered.
The stray dog population has decreased drastically since the
operation was re-implemented in mid 2020.
Dog owners were given an opportunity to register their pet dogs
at a discounted fee of AUD20 each in September 2020 to enable a
maximum number of dog registrations. This saw the
registration of over 500 dogs.
The last number of dog licence that was issued was 943, this
will be the number of dogs licenced since we have started using the
tags.
The dog registration fee has gone back to AUD100 per dog and
AUD200 for dangerous dogs.
Capacity building is an essential part of developing the Unit as
it is comprised of new officers since its re-establishment and
shift to JBC. With the arrival of the dog poison to be used in the
management of stray and diseased dogs, the officers have been
properly trained to correctly and cautiously administer the poison
which is toxic and fatal to dogs but not to humans.
At first, issues arose about placements of the poison where
registered dogs had consumed and died from it. The proposal to the
Unit to issue public notices regarding where such poisons have been
placed has been taken on board.
However, the Unit has destroyed over 900 dogs during the
reporting period.
Our Team
| Position |
Name |
| Director of Dog Management & Control Unit |
Vyko Adeang |
| Dog Control Supervisor |
Girouv Paulinious Ika |
| Dog Control Officer |
Peter Deireragea,
Jetho Tamakin,
Daniel Tsiode |
Objectives
- To facilitate the sterilisation of dogs and conduct operations
on the eradication of stray and diseased dogs.
Motivation
Love your dog? Then license your dog.
Strategic Plan Priority Area 4: Cost Cutting
Sectors
Cross-Goal 1
Strengthen Parliament, audit, justice, law, order and border
control.
Achievements
The Dog Management and Control Unit is now a separate section of
the Department of Justice and Border Control where previously it
was a subdivision of the Quarantine Division.
As a stand alone Section the Unit is allocated with its own
budget to execute with the implementation of its work plan. To an
extent this avails financial independence to the Unit where the
utilisation of its budget is proposed and specifically targeted to
its mandates and objectives.
Working with the Community
The Unit has explored ways in engaging the community in the
management of stray and diseased dogs as the operation involves the
entry of officers onto people's land in order to reach sites where
sightings have been reported of large groups of unregistered dogs
gather. These are major concerns of the Unit as the groups of dogs
pose as a threat to the public if not controlled. However, the Unit
has conducted public awareness sessions with the community
informing the people that dog management and control is an issue
of safety for the community especially children who have been
subject of stray dog attacks during the past decade.
Way Forward
As a way forward for the Dog Management and Control Unit, the
following are priorities:
- Formulate a contextualised dog control plan that involves the
community.
- Develop plans to resource community engagement in
the management of stray dogs.
- Develop operational skills for the dog capture and euthanasia
of dogs.
- Devise a monitoring and evaluation framework to assess the
effectiveness of the implemented work plan for the Unit.