By Danielle Kutchel
A new agreement being pushed by Cardinia Shire Council means some local vets may not be able to accept and rehome stray animals handed in by concerned members of the public.
The council has begun contacting vets within its jurisdiction and asking them to sign what is known as an 84Y agreement.
An 84Y agreement is made under the Domestic Animals Act 1994 and sets out what a vet can and cannot do when a stray animal is handed into a vet clinic. If a vet signs an 84Y agreement with their local council, they become an authorised officer and are required to follow the processes specified by the council to try to reunite the animal with its owner.
If a vet does not sign an 84Y agreement with the council, they are legally unable to accept stray animals or attempt to rehome them.
It is not mandatory for councils to enter into an 84Y agreement with vets.
However, Animal Welfare Victoria along with RSPCA Victoria and the Municipal Association of Victoria, are encouraging councils to establish the agreements with local vets in a move that they say will improve animal welfare outcomes and reduce animal management costs for councils.
According to council meeting minutes, Cardinia Shire Council committed in 2017 to “investigating the use of 84Y agreements with Vet Clinics” as part of its 2018-’22 Domestic Animal Management Plan.
Cardinia Shire Council’s general manager infrastructure and environment, Peter Benazic, said the council had been prompted to contact local vets by the Victorian government, which has asked councils to prioritise 84Y agreements within their Domestic Animal Management Plans.
“Vet clinics may choose to enter into an 84Y agreement with council, as it enables them to take custody of a lost animal and attempt to reunite it with their owner in line with Victorian Government legislation, the Domestic Animals Act 1994,” Mr Benazic said.
“Vet clinics who have entered into 84Y Agreements are only required to provide council with information to clarify who has found and who has collected a lost animal. This is to ensure that the Victorian Government’s requirements are being upheld.”
Owners of pets found at large may face fines from the council.
Vets across the shire have reacted explosively to the council’s prompts.
In a Facebook post on 17 July, Station Street Veterinary Clinic in Kooweerup explained that they had opted to sign the 84Y agreement out of concern for animal welfare.
“As a clinic we strongly feel that we should be able to return a lost pet to their rightful owner as soon as possible. Station Street Veterinary Clinic do not want to see pets going to the pound where there are significant fees to have them released and the risk of euthanasia. As such we have opted to sign the agreement with Cardinia Shire. If we didn’t sign the agreement we would, by law, be unable to accept any lost pets and would have to turn them away at the door,” the clinic posted.
Station Street did not respond to requests for further comment.
Then on 31 July, Beaconsfield Veterinary Centre garnered thousands of comments from residents when it posted its own response to the agreement on its Facebook page.
“The Cardinia Shire have informed me they will take me to court should I take in another stray as I refused to sign their 84Y Agreement,” centre owner Steve posted.
“I won’t give you my reasons for not signing, I have just one question … the question is this: veterinary clinics take in strays, do you believe that this is what ‘the public might reasonably expect of a registered veterinary practitioner’?”
Steve provided no further comments to Star News Group.
Star News Group also contacted a number of other vets across Cardinia Shire regarding the status of their 84Y agreements with the council, however they did not respond before deadline.
Cardinia Shire Council would not confirm the number of clinics that have signed 84Y agreements.
