Barking up the wrong tree

COMPLAINT Registered (Cranbourne News, 31 March 2016) suggests council has increased animal registrations by stealth.
This is certainly not the case, with the fee increase being considered at a public council meeting on 15 December 2015.
Council provides services for the 31,700 dogs and 8700 cats who reside in the municipality, including delivering pound services, collecting lost and wandering pets, investigating and prosecuting dog attacks and animal cruelty, providing microchipping days and maintaining animal welfare standards.
The costs of delivering animal management services continue to increase so it has been necessary to raise the cost of animal registration by an average of 13 per cent in 2016.
It is also worth noting that part of the registration fee is a levy that council collects on behalf of the State Government.
Cr Sam Aziz,
City of Casey Mayor.