New laws for Dogs and Cats

Published on 05 April 2018

New laws for cat and dog owners will come into effect on 1 July 2018.

The laws and rules include:

 - Mandatory microchipping of cats and dogs from 1 July 2018

- Desexing of all dogs born after the 1 July 2018

- New rules for breeders who sell dogs and cats

- Introduction of a State-wide database, called Dogs and Cats Online (DACO).

- At 3 months of age dogs are required to be registered and from 1 July 2018 all dogs in South Australia will be required to be microchipped.

For more information on the new dog and cat laws click on this link.

Existing dog owners and breeders should receive a renewal notice in the mail in mid July 2018 with their dog’s new lifetime registration disc (replacing the annual disc) and instructions on how to complete their annual dog registration on Dog and Cats Online (DACO). If you do not receive a renewal notice for your dog, please contact your council. 

You will need to provide an email address when you register on DACO for future annual registrations.

Microchipping becomes mandatory in South Australia 1 July 2018.

It’s simple. Australians love pets. 

In fact Australia has one of the highest rates of pet ownership in the world with more than 63 % of Australian households owning a pet.

There wouldn’t be many Australian’s that can’t remember their first pet and the memories that pet brings. 

There is estimated to be 4.2 million dogs in Australia, that’s 19 dogs for every 100 people. Cats come in second with an estimated 3.3 million in Australia. That’s 15 cats for every 100 people! That’s a lot of cats and dogs!

The simple fact is a microchipped pet has a better chance of getting home quicker than one that isn’t. A pet that is able to be returned directly to their owner also decreases the enormous burden on our shelters holding lost pets and reduces the cost to local councils. 

To find out where the next microchipping day will be see the chipblitz website