When making a lost pet report please provide the following information:

• A description of the animal
• The current registration tag number
• The microchip number
• When and where the animal went missing
• Your name and a contact phone number.

To make sure that you are reunited with your pet as soon as possible, please ensure that your pet always wears its collar and registration tag and is micro-chipped with your current details recorded on the microchip register.

If an animal fitting the description of your pet is found and we have your contact details, you will be contacted and asked to come to the Council pound (Animal Aid) or to Council to determine if it is your pet. If you rpet is at Animal Aid, you will need to pay a fee at Animal Aid to release your pet.

Animal Aid will also undertake a tracing procedure in an attempt to locate the owner. If the owner is identified, they will be advised of the situation. If a pet is micro-chipped it will have a much better chance of being reunited with its owner.

If you find a stray dog or cat:

1. Please secure it if safe to do so.
2. If you have the dog or cat contained, you must contact Council as soon as possible on telephone number 9262 6333 (24 Hours). It is important to report any found animals to Council. Although you may not wish to see the animal impounded, you are required by law to deliver the cat or dog as soon as is reasonably possible, to a Council Officer or Council’s pound (Animal Aid).
3. Not contacting Council and keeping the animal can reduce the owners' chances of finding their dog or cat, as the pound is the most likely place they will check. We discourage holding the animal yourself.
4. It is also important not to take the animal out of the area where it was found as this also makes it more difficult for owners to find their pet.
5. Please remember we try to return all dogs and cats home as soon as possible to avoid any unnecessary stress for the pet or its family. If the animal has identification, Council can get in contact with the owners by tracing the registration tag number or microchip. 
6. If the found animal is wearing a registration tag, with your permission, Council may be able to contact the owner and arrange for them to collect their pet from you. If the owner can’t be contacted, or the pet is not wearing visible identification a Community Laws officer will attend and collect the pet. 
7. If the dog or cat has ID, it will be returned home if possible.The pet’s owners, who may have already notified us that their pet is missing, are waiting to hear from us. Council officers will make every attempt to reunite pets with their owner.
8. Stray dogs or cats found without identification and/or whose owners cannot be contacted will be taken to Animal Aid.

Please note that any deceased dogs and cats collected by Council will be taken to the RSPCA in Burwood East. If the pet is wearing identification or has a microchip the RSPCA will contact the owner advise them.

Council provides an after-hours service for picking up lost and found animals. 

Wandering dogs that are contained can be collected out of normal office hours until 8.30pm. 

Council officers will only collect contained cats during between normal working business hours (Monday-to Friday) between the hours of 8.30am to 4.30pm.

Fees will apply for collecting your pet from Animal Aid and are payable in full prior to the pet being released. These fees are charged for the housing, caring and feeding of the pet. 

Fines may also be issued to the owners of cats and dogs should they be found to be wandering within the municipality.

Stray cats and dogs

• If the cat or dog is injured, take it straight to the closest vet.
• Otherwise, contact council, and ask to be put through to the 'animal management' or 'local laws' section.
• Council will let you know what to do next (e.g. whether they will collect the animal, whether you need to bring it into the pound, or whether it needs to be trapped).
• Council will need to check the animal for identification – either a collar and registration tag, or a microchip. If identified, council will be able to reunite the animal with its owner.
• If council cannot identify the owner, it will retain the animal for a period of time to give an owner the chance to reclaim it.
• If the animal is not owned or reclaimed, and you wish to adopt it,   you can speak to Council or Animal Aid for advice on how to go about this.