Canberra pet registers let sleeping dogs lie - The Canberra Times

Rhiannon Hinds with Max. Photo: Graham Tidy

Thousands of dead dogs are still listed on the ACT government's pet register because there is no requirement for owners to report their pet's passing.

A spokesman for Territory and Municipal Services said that if the government required an accurate count of dogs in the territory, it would be impossible to find out.

In 2008, the ACT switched to a lifetime registration system, meaning once a pet was registered it would never be removed from the database except at the request of the owner.

''The database shows dogs registered since 2001, so it would be pure speculation to try and work out how many are now dead,'' the spokesman said said.

Microchipping databases have the same issue, with the potential for some dogs to stay active on the database for decades once they had passed away.

National Pet Register operations manager Melanie Robinson said there were no legal requirements for dogs to be removed once they passed away.

''Our database could say we have 1.45 million animals, but how many are alive?'' she said. ''Unless we're notified, they could still be alive, even though they're 97 years old.''

In NSW, dog owners are required to notify their local council within 28 days of their pet passing away, but a spokeswoman for the Companion Animals Register in NSW confirmed there is no penalty for not fulfilling this requirement.

Ms Robinson said only about 1 per cent or 2 per cent of pet owners report their animal's death. She said there was no clear answer on whether or not the removal of dead animals should be legislated.

''I'm a bit torn on that - a data manager would be saying, 'No, it's crucial you must do it', but as a pet owner, I can see their perspective,'' she said.

''How would you enforce it?''

RSPCA acting chief executive officer Jane Gregor said the large number of deceased animals on the ACT database had no effect on its operations.

''Just because there's still deceased dogs on there, it doesn't mean anything because each chip is individual - [for our purposes] that's the one you're looking up,'' she said.

Records show the most popular dog names in Canberra since 2001 have been Max, Molly, Jack and Bella, with Charlie coming in a close fifth.