Keeping Animals

The City welcomes and supports responsible pet ownership. As a responsible pet owner, you have an obligation to care for the health and wellbeing of your pet, as well as a duty to ensure your animal’s activities don’t interfere with your neighbours or the environment.

The City’s Health Local Laws 2002 set provisions for the keeping of poultry (including domestic fowls), pigeons and bees. The Health Local Law does not permit the keeping of large animals (including horse, cow, pig, sheep, deer, goat, and camel) specific birds (including rooster, turkey, duck, geese, peacock or peahen) or rats.

The Health Local Laws also set out conditions relating to:

  • The permits required to keep certain animals
  • The structures and enclosures in which animals may be kept and
  • Standards of cleanliness which must be maintained. 

Related Content

Dogs

Being a responsible dog owner means ensuring your dog is registered, trained, healthy, safe, well cared for, and does not create a nuisance to other members of your community.

Cats

Domestic cats should sterilised, micro-chipped and registered with the City so they can be returned to you if they become lost.

Bees

Bees are an important part of the ecosystem but can cause a problem for many people, especially in hot weather. They usually swarm in spring, between September and November.

Poultry

The City’s Health Local Laws 2002 allow an owner/occupier to keep up to 12 poultry birds. For the purpose of this law, the definition of poultry includes domestic fowls.