There is a very specific definition of “domestic animal business” in the Domestic Animals Act and you may well be conducting a domestic animal business without realising you are doing so.

There are many requirements for domestic animal businesses under The Domestic Animals Act and sometimes councils prosecute such businesses for failing to comply with the relevant Codes of Practice, registration, sales and other requirements. Often the business owner is not even aware that he or she needed to comply with the matters for which he or she is prosecuted –and it is easy to breach the requirements. But the penalties for the breaches of compliance can be extremely high, with some provisions providing for penalties of  $20,000 to $85,000 approximately.

Further, in certain situations, those conducting the business can be prevented from involvement in such a business for very lengthy periods of time if there are significant breaches of The Domestic Animals Act.

Melke Legal has both defended and prosecuted such matters and can provide timely advice to avoid your business being brought into disrepute and into financial difficulty by a council prosecution.