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Get your impounded animal back

Find your pet in our animal shelters

To see if your pet has been impounded in one of our animal shelters, see our lost and adoptable animal search.

You should know

We will hold all dogs at a shelter for seven full days, giving you a chance to come forward and claim your dog.

You or someone you nominate can visit the shelter during this seven day period to claim your impounded dog. You will need a photo ID to collect an impounded animal.

After the seven days have passed, the dog will become our property.

We will run behavioural tests and decide whether to put the dog up for adoption, or put it to sleep if it is not suitable for adoption.

Pay outstanding fees

To get your impounded dog back from a shelter, you need to pay the relevant fees:

Impoundment fee – this helps cover the costs of looking after your dog in the shelter.
Registration fee – all impounded dogs must be registered before they are released. See Dog registration.
Microchipping fees – all impounded dogs must be microchipped before they are released, except registered working dogs and dogs first registered before 1 July 2006 and being impounded for the first time.

You can pay by Visa or MasterCard.

A card payment fee of 1.75 per cent will apply for credit and debit card payments.

Dog impoundment fees

Read fee table.
Description	Fee
After hours dog impounding - additional to standard impounding fee (9pm-6am)	$75
Daily sustenance for impounded dog	$21
Dog impoundment fee first offence	$81
Dog impoundment fee second offence	$150
Dog impoundment fee third and subsequent offence	$234
Microchip a dog	$35
Vet care, de-sexing, adoption, handover of ownership	Contact us for fees

Small animal impoundment fees

Small animals include:

sheep
pigs
goats
poultry.

Read fee table.
Description	Fee
Small animal daily sustenance fee (excluding first day)	$16
Small animal impoundment fee	$21
Vet care, de-sexing, adoption, handover of ownership	Contact us for fees

Large animal impoundment fees

Large animals include:

horses
cattle
llamas
alpacas
donkeys
mules
deer.

Read fee table.
Description	Fee
Large animal daily sustenance fee (excluding first day)	$22
Large animal impoundment fee	$31
Roaming stock – after-hours (9pm-6am)	$77
Roaming stock – first call out	$71
Roaming stock – subsequent call outs	$122
Stock driving fee per kilometre	Actual cost
Vet care, de-sexing, adoption, handover of ownership	Contact us for fees