WANTED

Due to the growing number of dog attacks and subsequent complaints in Coober Pedy, local residents are advised that the dog pictured below is dangerous.  Do not try to approach this animal.

If you recognise and see it or know its whereabouts please contact DCCP Animal Control urgently at: 0418 844 593 (after hours) or 08 86724 626 (business hours).  If you wish to help then a photo of the dog, location, and time of sighting will assist greatly. 

Background information: On Friday evening 1^st September at approximately 6.50pm, a person walking along Hutchison Street, near the Business Centre, was attacked and bitten/mauled by this animal and needed immediate medical attention.

The animal has no collar and is reported as roaming in a pack of two or more dogs.

Alternatively, if the owner would like to surrender the animal they can phone the Coober Pedy Council Animal Control on the numbers provided.

Two of the relevant categories referred to in the Dog and Cat Management Act 1995 (SA) are:

Control (Dangerous Dog) Order

The local council may make a Control (Dangerous Dog) Order if satisfied that the dog is dangerous and the dog has attacked, harassed or chased a person, animal or bird, or is likely to do so, in circumstances that would constitute an offence (or is subject to an order of another jurisdiction that corresponds to a Control (Dangerous Dog) Order).  [see Dog and Cat Management Act 1995 (SA) s 51(b)].

This order requires the dog [s 50(3)]:

• be desexed within a specified period (if not already)
• be microchipped within a specified period (if not already)
• be kept indoors at the owner’s premises or within fencing of the premises to prevent the dog escaping
• wear a collar that complies with the requirements of the Dog and Cat Management Board at all times, unless it would be injurious to its health
• except while confined to the owner’s premises, have a muzzle securely fixed on its mouth to prevent it from biting and be under effective control by reason of physical restraint, and
• the person responsible for the dog to undertake specified training courses
• Warning signs (complying with the requirements of the Dog and Cat Management Board) must also be prominently displayed at all entrances to where the dog is usually kept.
• All reasonable steps must be taken to prevent the dog from repeating the behaviour that gave rise to the order.
• If a dog subject to this order is seized and detained, it may be microchipped and desexed, with the cost recoverable from the owner as a debt due to the council [see ss 61(5) and (6)].   

Control and destruction orders https://www.lawhandbook.sa.gov.au/ch31s11.php

Before a control or destruction order can be issued the council must give at least seven days written notice inviting the owner and all those responsible for the dog to explain why an order should not be made [s 52]. If an order is made, the council can give written directions on how orders are to be complied with [s 53].

Breaching an order is an offence unless the owner can prove that she or he was unaware the order had been made [s 55]. An authorised council officer may also seize, detain and destroy a dog, because orders have been contravened or to give effect to orders, see Seizure and destruction of dogs.

Destruction Order

The local council may make a Destruction Order if satisfied that the dog is unduly dangerous and the dog has attacked, harassed or chased a person or an animal or bird owned by a person in circumstances that would constitute an offence [see Dog and Cat Management Act 1995 (SA) s 51(a)]. See also, Dog attacks.

This order requires that the dog be destroyed within a specified period (not less than one month after the order takes effect), and that until destroyed the dog be kept or detained at a place specified in the order or approved by the council [s 50(2)].

An application can also be made pursuant to section 59 of the Dog and Cat Management Act 1995 (SA). Applications are governed by Chapter 3 Part 2 Division 2 of the Uniform Special Statutory Rules 2022 (SA).