This petition is to formally request the Sunshine Coast Regional City Council to update their Animal Management bylaws in alliance with the majority of Queensland City Councils. (Brisbane City Council, Logan City, Redland City, and Townsville).

My understanding of councils, the state government passes laws and the local councils adapt / configure their laws to be in alignment…. 

The Queensland Government refers to environmental nuisances, but it directs nuisance dog barking back to the individual councils..... Queensland has 77 City Councils, Regional City Councils and numerous Shires. Recently I had presumed Queenslands various councils, regional councils and shires would be in alliance and mirror each other with their local guidelines.

I had also previously presumed a “nuisance” barking criteria had parameters such as duration of noise, time periods (am / pm), time frames, decibels, amounts of barks, number of complaints, frequency, intensity, etc.

The majority of the Queensland City Councils (Brisbane, Logan City, Redland City and Townsville) are aligned with a "nuisance" assessment criteria of "where the noise is made for more than a total of 6 minutes in any hour from 7am to 10pm, and no more than a total of 3 minutes in a 30 minute period at any time after 10pm and before 7am on any day".

HOWEVER according to the current Sunshine Coast City Council subordinate Local Law No 2 (Animal management) 2011. Schedule 3A Minimum standards for keeping animals generally. Section 2 Animal noise is a nuisance if it- is made by a domestic animal if it:
occurs more than once, unreasonably disrupts or inhibits an activity ordinarily carried out on a residential premises. 

It then follows further with "nuisance" clarifications: The barking of a dog, which disrupts a person-

a)  holding a conversation;

or b) watching television;

or c) listening to a radio or recorded material;

or d) sleeping

Given a dog's general nature, I believe these guidelines are unrealistic and restrictive to a typical dogs behaviours.

I also find this assessment criteria extremely broad and certainly not in alignment with the Sunshine Coast Regional councils current dog / pet ownership literature.

The SCRC council website and literature acknowledges “that animals play an important role in the family”, it presents the SCRCC as a pro-active, pet friendly council, the council appears to be focussed on pro active pet awareness programs, community education and community collaborations… It also acknowledges the virtues of pet ownership having a “positive effect on our mental health”, which “during these challenging times are more important than ever.” 

Furthermore these vague parameters seem open to a lot of interpretative “grey areas” from an owners perspective, complainants perspective and enforcing officers perspective, which concerns me even moreso as a dog owner and rate payer. 

This petition is to request the Sunshine Coast Regional City council update their current "nuisance" assessment criteria to include realistic assessment parameters such as: where the noise is made for more than a total of 6 minutes in any hour from 7am to 10pm, and no more than a total of 3 minutes in a 30 minute period at any time after 10pm and before 7am on any day.