Bayswater tightens dog enclosure rules and kennel inspection powers

The City of Bayswater has adopted the Dogs Amendment Local Law 2026, a new regulation that gives the local government power to direct dog owners to build suitable enclosures, allows warrant-backed inspections of kennel establishments and revises the modified penalties applied to dog-related offences. The Council resolved to make the amendment on 25 August 2026, and the law is published in the Western Australian Government Gazette No. 117 of 15 September 2026 under the Local Government Act 1995.

The amendment law comes into operation 14 days after its publication in the Government Gazette and amends the City of Bayswater Dogs Local Law 2016, which was published on 31 May 2016. The Common Seal of the City was affixed on 7 September 2026 in the presence of Mayor Filomena Piffaretti and Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Edwards.

New enclosure directions

The most significant change is a new clause 3.3, which empowers a person authorised by the local government to serve a written direction on the owner of any dog to provide a suitable enclosure that effectively confines the dog on the property where it is normally kept. The direction may be issued when the authorised person considers the dog is not adequately prevented from escaping the property.

• The owner must comply with a lawful direction within 14 days of its service.
• Failure to comply is an offence.
• Where the dog is not a dangerous dog, the penalty is $2,000, plus a further penalty of up to $200 for each day the offence continues.
• Offences involving a dangerous dog are dealt with under the Dog Act and its Regulations.

Kennel inspection and warrants

Clause 4.16, governing the inspection of kennels, has been replaced. An authorised person may now inspect an approved kennel establishment at any time with the consent of the occupier. Where consent is not given, an authorised person — and any other person named in the warrant — may enter and inspect the establishment for any purpose relating to the enforcement of the local law, provided a warrant has been issued.

A Justice of the Peace may issue such a warrant if satisfied there are reasonable grounds for doing so.

Revised modified penalties

The amendment deletes the previous modified-penalty provisions and replaces the table in Schedule 3 with a new set of amounts. The revised modified penalties are:

• $200 — failure to provide effective means to contain a dog (clause 3.1)
• $200 — failure to comply with a direction to provide a suitable enclosure (clause 3.3(3))
• $250 — failure to comply with the conditions of a licence (clause 4.9)
• $100 — dog excreting in a prohibited place (clause 5.1(2))

The amendment also deletes Part 2 on the impounding of dogs, removes the clauses on failure to pay a modified penalty and payment of a modified penalty, and restricts the signing or sending of a notice of withdrawal to delegated officers under the City of Bayswater Delegated Authority Register.

For every dog owner in Bayswater, the law makes clear that adequate containment is now a formal, enforceable obligation with a defined compliance window and a fixed penalty scale, while giving inspectors a clear legal route — including warrants — to verify kennel conditions. Owners should review their fencing and enclosure arrangements within the 14-day compliance period to avoid the new penalties.

Source: Western Australian Government Gazette, No. 117, 15 September 2026, Local Government section, p. 1908 (official reference: LG405).