Registering your dog or cat greatly improves their chances of being returned to you if they become lost. All dogs and cats must be registered with us from 3 months of age.
Council sends an Animal Registration Renewal Notice each year when your pet registration is due for renewal. The fee must be paid by 9 April each year, regardless of when you have paid your initial registration fee.
If you do not receive a Registration Renewal Notice please contact Council by emailing animal.management@whittlesea.vic.gov.au for more information.
Fill out the form below to update your animal registration details.
A range of registration fees apply depending on if you are eligible for reduced fees, or hold a pension card.
If you are registering your pet for the first time, we charge a pro-rata rate according to the time of year when you register.
All registrations are due for renewal on 9 April each year, and must be full year registrations.
To see the full list of current pet registration fees, download the Animal registration form.
Please note: Health care cards do not meet the eligibility criteria for reduced fees.
Under the Domestic Animals Act 1994 all cats and dogs more than three months of age must be microchipped and registered with Council.
The registration year is from 11 April to 10 April the following year. The 2022/23 registration period will start from 15 February 2022 and any new registration will be valid until 10 April 2023.
Registrations made on or after 10 October are charged a half price fee. These registrations are valid until the end of the current registration year.
Registering your dog or cat greatly improves their chances of being returned to you if they become lost.
If you have all the required information and documents, you can register your pet online.
Before you start your online registration, please ensure you:
Please make sure all the correct details and documents are provided before accepting the declaration and making payment on the online form. No refunds will be processed once submitted.
For multiple pets you will need to submit one online registration per pet.
Once you submit online, your application will be processed by our Compliance Administration team. If all details and supporting documentation are correct you will receive your pet’s new tag and confirmation of registration in the post a few days later.
Please be aware that any false information provided may result in your pet being unregistered and may incur enforcement action and penalties.
Please note: Health care cards do not meet the eligibility criteria for reduced fees.
You may be entitled to a registration refund if your pet cat or dog has died or you have had to surrender it to the Epping Animal Welfare Facility.
How to apply:
All applications must be in writing either by letter or email to info@whittlesea.vic.gov.au
Include your pet’s name, animal number or tag number and the address.
If your pet has passed away please attach a copy of a vet report or a statutory declaration confirming the date of death.
If your animal was surrendered to the Epping Animal Welfare Facility please attach a copy of the release form.
Once the application is received it may take up to 3 weeks to receive a refund via EFT.
State Government legislation requires that all pets being registered for the first time, or transferring from another council are microchipped before registration.
When you move into the City of Whittlesea, you must apply to register your pet with us by submitting an application form.
If you provide a receipt as proof that your animal is currently registered with another Council in Victoria, there will be no fee for the transfer.
Please note: if your dog is not microchipped, your dog must be microchipped prior to submitting an application form.
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Owners of unregistered pets face an on-the-spot fine, or may face legal proceedings and have to pay a court imposed penalty.
If your pet has passed away or you've moved outside of the City of Whittlesea, you must notify us to update your animal registration details.
If you take over ownership of a cat or dog that is already registered in the City of Whittlesea, complete and submit our Change of ownership form.
This will ensure you do not need to re-register your new pet.
Once you have registered your pet with us, you should also make sure their details are provided to Central Animal Records which is an accredited microchip registry. Having your pet's details updated with them can assist in the recovery of your pet if they go missing.
For Animal fines please see below.
If your address or contact details change at any time you should make sure your details are current on your pets microchip.
To locate the database which holds the current details for your microchip you can visit www.petaddress.com.au
The Pet Address search engine allows you to search for the microchip number of a pet in various animal databases. If your number is found in one of the databases, you will be given the details of the registry. You can then follow the prompts with the registry on how to update details.
Having your pet's details updated with them can assist in the recovery of your pet if they go missing.