Domestic Animal Businesses

In Victoria, the Domestic Animals Act 1994 defines Domestic Animal Businesses as any of the following:

• A Council pound
• A dog training establishment
• A pet shop
• An animal shelter
• An establishment boarding dogs or cats
• An establishment that is rearing dogs or cats
• A dog and/or cat breeding business - where there are three or more fertile females and animals are sold (whether a profit is made or not), and the proprietor is not a member of an Applicable Organisation. If the proprietor is a member of an Applicable Organisation, they are exempt from registering as a breeding Domestic Animal Business if they have less than 10 fertile female animals AND no more than 2 are not registered with an Applicable Organisation.

All domestic animal businesses operating in Wellington Shire must be registered annually and comply with the appropriate mandatory Code of Practice. This includes annual inspection of the facilities prior to registration each year.

Further information regarding Domestic Animal Businesses can be found on the Animal Welfare Victoria website. If you would like to discuss registering as a domestic animal business, please contact us.