The fees come as part of the council’s companion animals category, and they include the following:

Mark Gardiner, manager of environment and city compliance at the council, said the dangerous-dog fees would be a new service going forward to help ensure owners do not breach the Companion Animals Act 1998.

He said that the catalyst for the dangerous dog fees were based on residents’ feedback about the lack of supply from outlets in the region.

“It’s something that we found in recent years when we’d go to check on people about meeting legislation.

“They were telling us they couldn’t do it because they couldn’t locate a collar or a size, so we’ve come up with this solution,” Mr Gardiner said.

“What we’re finding was that people couldn’t buy them off the shelf locally – so they couldn’t go to a local shop and find those particularly items.”

Mr Gardiner said that residents had been ordering the required dog collars and signs online.

“They had to wait a while to get them in. But once a dog is declared dangerous, people are required to meet those requirements straight away,” he said.

On July 1, 2016, to June 30, 2017, the reported number of dogs involved in attacks was 73. The council’s record showed that this included 48 canines.

Asked if there were an increase in reported dangerous dogs or dog attacks in recent times, Mr Gardiner said no.

“It’s not the fact that there’s been an increase in dog attacks or anything – it’s really just providing a service for people who can’t conform to those [legislation] requirements straight away,” he said.

“We’ve stocked several of each at the shelter so that if people wish to purchase them straight away, then they can do that.”

Principal vet Dr Tristan Robinson at Wagga Veterinary Hospital shared Mr Gardiner’s sentiment about dog attacks.

“As vets, we don’t get a lot of clients asking about dangerous dogs – we see only the after effects.

“But even then, we don’t really see a lot of dangerous dogs. At most, we deal with behavioural issues, such as separation anxiety and fear,” Dr Robinson said.

He commended the council on taking the initiative to improve access for dangerous-dog owners.

“We’re always drumming home the notion of being responsible pet owners. As well as nurturing and training, this includes meeting any legislation,” he said.