Pet registration fees

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You must pay a fee to register your cat or dog in the city of Knox.

Some residents may be eligible for a reduced registration fee for their pet.

The below fees are valid until 9 April 2025 and include a state Government Levy.

Dog registration fees

Category	Regular	Concession
Dog – discounted fee category (see below)	$58	$29
Dog – entire or unsterilised and not included in discounted fee category	$222	$111
Restricted breed dog	$377	N/A
Declared menacing dog	$377	N/A
Declared dangerous dog	$377	N/A
Dog adopted from a shelter or pound and registered within 30 days. The shelter or pound must be a domestic animal business registered with a local council. You need to supply the relevant documentation. Subsequent registration periods will incur the normal fee applicable.	$0	$0
Puppy less than 6 months old and NOT desexed. To be eligible for the reduced rate for future registration periods you need to get your puppy desexed and provide the desexing certificate to Council before 10 April.	$58	N/A

Cat registration fees

It is mandatory to have your cat desexed prior to registration.

Category	Regular	Concession
Cat – discounted fee category (see below)	$52	$26
Cat – entire or unsterilised (medical exemption required)	$222	$111
Cat adopted from a shelter or pound and registered within 30 days. The shelter or pound must be a domestic animal business registered with a local council. You need to supply the relevant documentation. Subsequent registration periods will incur the normal fee applicable.	$0	$0

Register your pet

Visit our pet registration page to:

register your cat or dog
renew your pet registration
update your pet registration details.

Refund of registration fees

Refunds (excluding the mandatory State Government Levy) are assessed on a case-by-case basis provided that your pet passes away within 30 days of:

their first registration
a renewed registration. We will not consider renewed registration refunds after 10 May each year.

Discounted fee categories

You may qualify for a discounted annual pet registration fee. No concessions or reduced fees apply to declared dangerous, menacing, restricted breed dogs.

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Desexed cats or dogs

A desexed dog or cat entitles you to a discounted registration.

You need to provide Council with a copy of your pet's desexing certificate upon registration to be eligible.

Cats or dogs over 10 years old

If your dog or cat is over 10 years old, you are entitled to a discounted registration fee.

Applicable organisations

If you are a member of one of the following organisations and your pet is also registered with that organisation, you are entitled to a reduced fee.

The Victorian Applicable Organisations are:

Feline Control Council (Victoria) Inc.
The Governing Council of the Cat Fancy Australia and Victoria Inc.
Dogs Victoria (formerly Victorian Canine Association Inc.)
Responsible Pet Breeders Australia
Australian National Cats Inc. (formerly Waratah National Cat Alliance)
Master Dog Breeders Associates

These organisations are exempt under s10B of the Domestic Animals Act 1994 from any desexing orders made by Council under s10A of the Act.

Please provide current documentation at the time of registering for the reduced fee.

Kept for breeding at a licensed premises

If you are a registered Domestic Animal Business, you are entitled to a reduced fee.

A Domestic Animal Business means:

an animal shelter, Council pound or pet shop
an enterprise that is run for profit which carries out all or any of the following activities:
- business breeding dogs or cats with more than 10 fertile female dogs or cats
- a business with under 10 fertile female dogs or cats, but the owner is not a member of an applicable organisation
a business rearing, training or boarding dogs or cats.

Please contact the Community Laws team at Council on 9298 8000 to learn more.

Farm working dog registration

Farm working dogs kept on rural land may also be eligible. They are generally used for droving, protecting, tending, or working stock.

For more information, call the Community Laws team on 9298 8000.

Registered hunting hounds

You are eligible for a reduced registration fee if your dog is a hound registered with the Game Management Authority (GMA) and is microchipped.

Please provide copies of relevant documentation at the time of registering for the reduced fee.

Dog training

You may receive reduced registration fees if your dog completes an approved obedience training program. To get the reduced rate:

complete an approved training program
provide an official Dog Obedience Certificate or a certificate recognised by the Australian National Kennel Council
present the certificate when registering your dog.

Approved training organisations

The following organisations run approved obedience training programs:

Australian Association of Professional Dog Trainers
The Gentle Dog Trainers Association Inc
The Delta Institute.

All training must follow the Domestic Animals Regulations 2015.

Four Paws K9 Training certificates

Four Paws K9 Training (FPK9) approval expired on 30 September 2024. Certificates from FPK9 or its affiliate clubs issued before this date are still valid for reduced registration.

More information

For specifics and assessment criteria, contact the Community Laws team on 9298 8000.

Concession card holders

There is a 50 per cent discount on registration if you hold an eligible concession card.

The following cardholders are eligible for pensioner rate concession for animal registrations:

Pensioner Concession Card (Services Australia/Centrelink)
Pensioner Concession Card (Department of Veterans' Affairs)
DVA Gold Repatriation Health Card - TPI
DVA Gold Repatriation Health Card - War Widow.

Exemptions to the pet registration fee

You are not required to pay a registration fee if you are the owner of:

a working guide dog
a guide dog in training
an assistance dog
a service dog
dogs that are being trained by an approved organisation

If you register a greyhound with Greyhound Racing Victoria, you do not need to register with Council.

Pet greyhounds and dogs that have gone through the Greyhound Adoption Program must be registered with Council.

Other reduced registration fees

Knox currently offers reduced pet registration fees for some pets.

This incentive aims to promote responsible pet ownership and encourage pet registration.

Animals registered under one of these incentives will receive a discount only for the initial registration period. After the initial period, the fee will revert back to the applicable registration category.

To qualify, your dog or cat must be either:

Pet Adoption - adopted from a council-approved shelter or pound and registered within 30 days of adoption, or
Puppy Registration - a puppy less than 6 months old sho has not been able to be desexed.

Please note:

No reduced fee applies to puppy registrations for their second registration period. For a further reduced fee you must provide a desexing certificate to Council before the pet's registration renewal on 10 April.
If more than 30 days has passed since acquiring your pet then you will not be eligible for the Pet Adoption offer.
The Pet Adoption incentive only applies to animals that have been purchased from a domestic animal business registered with a Council. You must provide a proof of purchase.

Pet identification tags

Council has lifetime tags for pet registration.

Your pet should wear the tag at all times. Fines apply for pets found outside your premises and it is not wearing its Council tag.

If you damage or lose a tag, contact Council for a replacement.

Request a replacement registration tag

Need help?

Or call our Community Laws department on 9298 8000.