Halls Creek offers free pet registration for one year to boost compliance ahead of state system rollout

Pet registration fees will be waived for a year in Halls Creek in an effort to get on top of the large number of unregistered dogs in town. Hall Creek Councillors voted unanimously at the most recent shire meeting to offer free registrations for dogs and cats from November 1 to October 31 next year, saving pet owners an average of $50 in fees. The move was prompted by a need to increase the number of dogs registered in Halls Creek ahead of a new centralised state registration system being introduced next year. Currently cat and dog owners are required to have their pets microchipped and registered with their local council. From June 30, next year all local councils will have to upload their pet registration data to the central system. In the most recent Shire of Halls Creek council agenda it stated the number of pet dogs registered in Halls Creek was “insignificant” compared to the population of canines in the town and surrounds. “A check on Synergy, where the register of dogs is maintained showed less than 25 dogs were registered in the financial year 2023/24, generating a revenue of $1550.00,” the agenda stated. “Most of the dogs were registered only after they had been impounded by the Rangers, as the law does not allow dogs that have been impounded to be released to their owners if they are not registered.” The Shire hopes by providing free registration they will not only boost the number of dogs on their books but also get a reasonable census of how many are in Halls Creek. All residents will be advised that the free registration is for one year only and after that they will be required to pay for renewal. “Towards the end of October 2025, renewal registration reminders will be sent to all households that registered pets requiring them to renew the registration and give an update on the numbers of pets in their household,’ the agenda stated. In WA Dogs must be microchipped and registered with the local council by the time they are three months, while for cats it is six months. In Halls Creek each household can have a maximum of two dogs.