The animals are then taken to The Lost Dogs’ Home who provide pound and rehoming services on behalf of the City of Melbourne.
The Lost Dogs' Home
2 Gracie Street, North Melbourne, 3051
Phone: 9329 2755
Monday to Friday: 1pm to 6pm
Saturday: 9am to 3.30pm
Sunday: 9am to 12.30pm
Public holidays: Closed (Open 9am to 12.30pm on Easter Saturday and Sunday.)
Is your dog or cat missing?
If your pet is found within the City of Melbourne wearing a registration tag and has a microchip, we will attempt to contact you during business hours as soon as possible to reunite you with your pet. This is why it’s important to keep registration and microchip details up to date.
If our attempt at reuniting the animal and their owner are unsuccessful, the animal will be delivered to The Lost Dogs’ Home.
The Lost Dogs’ Home
2 Gracie Street, North Melbourne, 3051
View map and get directionsOpens in new tab.
Phone: 9329 2755
Monday to Thursday: 10am – 6.15pm
Friday: 10am – 4.45pm
Saturday: 9am – 3.30pm
Sunday: 9am – 12.30pm
Public holidays: 9am – 12.30pm.
If your pet is not registered or wearing a tag or microchip we have no way to contact you if it has been found. Call or visit The Lost Dogs’ Home to see if your animal has been picked up.
If your pet is not registered, you will need to register it with your Council before it can be released to you.
Your pet may have wandered into a neighbouring council. You should also check the services of neighbouring councils:
- City of Hobsons BayOpens in new tab
- City of MaribyrnongOpens in new tab
- City of Moonee ValleyOpens in new tab
- City of Merri-bekOpens in new tab
- City of StonningtonOpens in new tab
- City of Port PhillipOpens in new tab
- City of YarraOpens in new tab.
You may also find it helpful to view the City of Melbourne’s boundaries and individual suburb maps.
There are fees relating to the care and housing of your pet during its time at the pound.
When collecting your pet, you will be required to pay the following fees:
- Dogs: $65 for the first day then $15 each day thereafter
- Cats: $30 for the first day then $15 each day thereafter
If your pet is not registered and microchipped you will be required to microchip and register it with your Council before it can be released to you.
Infringement notices
Under State Legislation, the Domestic Animals Act 1994 there are offences relating to cats and dogs including animals found not securely confined to the premises of their owner and unregistered and infringements notices may apply. For a complete list of infringements, visit Responsible pet ownership.
For the 2023-24 financial year, fines range from $95 to $477 depending on the offence.
The penalty units attributable to an offence for a cat or dog are set out in the Domestic Animal Regulations. Penalty unit amounts are set in accordance with the Monetary Units Act 2004 (Vic). Accordingly, the City of Melbourne cannot vary or reduce these penalty amounts.
Please note that the fine values are subject to annual increases, visit the Department of Justice and Community Safety Opens in new tabfor more information about infringement notices.
Have you found a lost animal?
If you find a lost dog, please call us on 9658 9658 (24 hours a day) to arrange for an officer to collect the dog. If the animal has a tag we will reunite the animal with its owner as soon as possible.
Cats within the City of Melbourne municipality are not required to be contained to their owner’s property if they are wearing a registration tag, therefore if you see a cat, it may not be lost. Sometimes it may be best to leave the cat to return home.
If the cat is injured, take it to a local vet or call the RSPCA on 9224 2222 (24 hours a day).
If a neighbour’s cat is trespassing on your property, or you have observed un-owned or wild cats in your area, you can submit an online reportOpens in new tab for us to investigate.
Cats may only be collected in business hours and must be contained in a carry box, cage or trap for the safety of our officers
View the City of Melbourne’s boundary map.
If you found the animal in another municipal area, by law you must return the animal to the council area you found the animal (even if it is wearing a City of Melbourne registration tag) and contact the council to arrange for collection.
This is the best way to ensure the owner who may be searching for the animal can be reunited with their animal.
An officer will check any identification on the animal including scanning the animal for a microchip number to obtain the owner’s contact information.
Where an owner can be contacted, the animal will be returned to them as soon as possible. If the owner cannot be contacted, animals are delivered to The Lost Dogs’ Home where they can be cared for until the owner can collect the animal.
By law, we must house animals for a minimum of eight days to provide an owner the opportunity to recover their pet. Sadly some owners don’t recover their pets and many animals are looking for new homes.
If you are interested in the animal, let the officer know and we can contact you if the owner cannot be located.
Visit The Lost Dogs’ Home to see all the animals looking for new homes.
Sick, injured or orphaned native wildlife should be referred to an authorised wildlife shelter, rehabilitation organisation or veterinarian.
Visit the Department of Environment, Land, Water and PlanningOpens in new tab to help you locate and contact the closest relevant organisations.a
Did you know?
Approximately 50,000 cats are picked up in Victoria annually and 35,000 of these have to be put to sleep. A major contributing factor to this problem is people feeding unowned cats. This isn’t the answer.
More information from Agriculture Victoria
