Pet surrenders increased ten-fold in the last year in Corangamite Shire

Surrenders of cats and dogs increased 10-fold over the past year in the Corangamite Shire.

From 2020 to 2021 the Corangamite Shire Council impounded 170 cats, with only five per cent returned to their owner.

The low rate is due to most of the cats not being registered or microchipped, as well as feral cats impacting farms, the council said.

Of those, 73 cats (43 per cent) were euthanised, with over three quarters of the cats being feral and/or displaying behavioural issues.

In 2020 council hired cat traps to residents on 142 occasions.

In the past year, council impounded 79 dogs, with just over half (52 per cent) returned to their owners.

The majority of the impounded dogs had been surrendered to council; 30 were able to be rehomed through the RSPCA.

In the same year, council euthanised 10 per cent of impounded dogs, all of which had been surrendered by their owners and were unable to be rehomed.

The council unveiled a new four-year domestic animal management plan on Tuesday night.

The plan to 2025 includes initiatives like reducing registration rate for desexed animals and free hire of cat traps.

It warns the current pound is nearing the end of its operational life and a new facility is needed to meet current standards.

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Council environment and emergency manager Lyall Bond said the pound, while still operational, will need to be upgraded within the next five years.

"We need to start planning for a new facility and working towards making the animals we do impound more comfortable," he said.

"As time changes we've got other things we impound like livestock, so as part of the upgrade we'll need a cattle ramp and yard."

Mr Bond said the euthanasia rate for cats could be reduced by addressing the feral cat issue and encouraged people not to feed feral animals.

"Feral animals cause considerable environmental issues," he said.

"Feeding them encourages them to be around and they can become dependent.

"We also really encourage people to get their pets microchipped and registered with the council so that if we do happen to come across their animal we know who the owner is.

"That becomes tricky when animals aren't identifiable."

There were 16 dog attacks reported last year and there are two dogs declared 'dangerous' and four 'menacing' in the shire.

In the same period the council saw 82 complaints about roaming dogs and impounded 79 of them. A total of 14 warnings and two fines were issued.

There are 1883 dogs and 1026 cats registered in the shire.

All dogs and cats over the age of three months must be registered with the council.

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