Lost or Found Animal

If you have lost or found an animal, please report the information to the Alexandrina Council immediately. Our call centre is open 24 hours, 7 days a week – 8555 7000.

When reporting a lost dog please include its registration number, name, sex, breed, colour, age, microchip number, colour of its collar, any other identifying features and when it was last seen.

If you have found a dog wandering and have been able to contain it please contact Council between 8:30am and 8pm daily.  We will attempt to immediately identify and contact the owners.  If we are unable to contact the owners an Officer will collect the dog as quickly as possible.

If you have found a dog outside of these hours please hold the dog if possible and contact Council during business hours on 8555 7000.

Lost dogs can be frightened and not traffic smart which means their safety could be at risk. Please remember that some frightened dogs could also become aggressive so be cautious if approaching an unknown dog. Contact Council immediately if the dog shows signs of aggression.  A Community Safety Officer will attend as soon as possible to collect the dog. If it is friendly contain the dog as soon as possible to protect the dog from any harm that could come from continuously wandering.

What does Council do?

We maintain an up-to-date listing of all animals that have been lost or found and make every effort to reunite you and your pet as soon as possible. To help make the return process quicker please ensure your pet’s microchip and registration details are up to date.  If your unsure if your dogs details are up to date please login to DACO.

When Council collects a wandering dog we do the following:

• Check registration tag/identification tag
• Check for a microchip
• Check our lost dog register
• Display a public notice on our community boards located at the Goolwa and Strathalbyn offices.

We try our best to deliver the dog direct to owner but for dogs whose owners are not located or contactable the dog will be cared for at our pound facility.  All dogs must be claimed within 72 hours, any dog unclaimed after this time becomes the property of Council and may be re-homed.

Fees and Charges

There are fees associated with a dog found wandering.  Fees include:

• Seizure fee
• First day impound fee
• Subsequent day(s) impounding fee.

All fees are required to be paid prior to release of the animal.  Additionally if a wandering dog unregistered it is required to be registered prior to release.

If you have lost your pet, Alexandrina Council encourages you to also contact:

• RSPCA on 1300 477 722
• Your local vet
• Neighbouring Council’s
• Check social media lost and found pet pages.