Circulars

What’s new or changing

• The Companion Animals Amendment (Registration Fees) Regulation 2015commenced on 29 October 2015.
• For dogs and cats sold by eligible pounds or shelters that are desexed at the time of registration, the fee payable is 50% of the fee for a desexed animal referred to in clause 17(1)(a) of the Companion Animals Regulation 2008. This discount also applies to animals transferred from eligible pounds or shelters to a rescue organisation for rehoming.
• An eligible pound or shelter includes a NSW council pound, the Animal Welfare League NSW, the Cat Protection Society of NSW Inc. and the RSPCA NSW.

What this will mean for your council

• The Companion Animals Register (“the Register”) has a new function to flag animals that are sold from eligible pounds/shelters where registration is not yet required or able to be processed at the point of purchase of the animal.
• A new fee category has been added to the Register to enable the 50% discount to be applied.
• The discounted registration will not impact on the payments subsequently made to councils.
• Your contracted registration agents should be advised of the changes.

Key points

• The discounted registration fee has been introduced to encourage the purchase and re-homing of dogs and cats from pounds and shelters to help reduce the number of animals euthanised in NSW.
• The Guideline on the Exercise of Functions under the Companion Animals Act 1998 has been revised to include information relating to the 50% discounted registration and a minor amendment to the definition of assistance animal to better reflect the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Commonwealth).
• The Register User Manual has also been revised to include a new function to flag an animal as sold or transferred from an eligible pound/shelter.

Where to go for further information

• Clause 17 of the Companion Animals Regulation 2008 can be viewed on the NSW legislation website at www.legislation.nsw.gov.au.
• The updated Guideline is available on the Office’s website at www.olg.nsw.gov.au.
• The Register User Guide has also been updated and is available on the Register via the main menu.

Tim Hurst
Acting Chief Executive