New South Wales Consolidated Acts

COMPANION ANIMALS ACT 1998 - SECT 9

9 Registration required from age 6 months

(1) A companion animal must be registered under this Act from the time the animal is 6 months old. The owner of the animal is guilty of an offence if it is not registered.

: Maximum penalty--

(a) in the case of a dangerous, menacing or restricted dog--60 penalty units for a first offence or 70 penalty units for a second or subsequent offence, or

(b) in any other case--50 penalty units for a first offence or 60 penalty units for a second or subsequent offence.

Note : The regulations may provide for exceptions to this section. An owner does not have to wait until an animal is 6 months old to register it. An animal of any age can be registered.

(2) The regulations may change the age from which a companion animal is required to be registered under this section from 6 months to any other age, either generally for all companion animals or for a particular kind or class of companion animal.

(3) A person is taken to commit a separate offence under this section on every day the companion animal remains unregistered. However, a person--

(a) may not be convicted for the commission of more than one offence in relation to the failure to register a companion animal during any single calendar month, and

(b) may be convicted only once in relation to any failure to register a companion animal that occurred before that failure came to the notice of the council of the area in which the animal is ordinarily kept.

Note : This subsection does not limit the number of times a person may be prosecuted under section 10B (Notice requiring companion animal to be registered).

(4) A greyhound that is registered for the time being under the Greyhound Racing Act 2017 is exempt from this section.