Canberra dogs under investigation for injuring a person or seriously injuring another animal would be impounded until the investigation was completed, under an Opposition bill.
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Canberra Liberals leader Alistair Coe will introduce the bill in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday to make several changes to the territory's dangerous dogs laws.
It follows after a series of prominent dog attacks across the city, one of which led to the tragic death of a Canberra woman last week.
While introduced by the Opposition leader, the driving force behind the bill has been the retiring Liberal MLA Steve Doszpot, who has long called for tighter controls on dangerous dogs in the ACT.
It is understood key measure in the bill would mean a dog would be immediately impounded during any investigation by domestic animal services into it causing an injury, serious injury or death of a person, or serious injury to another animal.
That measure, if adopted, could mean a dog that has previously been known to have attacked someone would be taken off the streets until the investigation into that incident was completed.
The bill is understood to include new measures including a minimum $750 fee for licence applications to keep a dangerous dog, and measure to ensure complaints about dog attacks causing injury to a person or serious injury to another animal are investigated.
But it stops short of declaring any specific breeds of dogs to be dangerous, instead focussing on the established behaviour of specific dogs in defining a 'dangerous dog'.
The Opposition's bill will also ensure that if an investigation does find that a dangerous dog killed or seriously injured a person, it would be put down,.
While that measure would be optional for lesser injuries to people or other animals caused by a dangerous dog, the government's registrar must issue a "control order" to the dog's keeper, imposing conditions from suitable fencing to training needing to be completed.
It also would create a new criteria around complaints about dogs that harass people, which would allow the registrar to issue a similar control order, depending on the scale of the harassment.
While it is unclear if the Opposition will convince either Labor or the Greens to back the bill, city services minister Meegan Fitzharris told the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday she expected the government would be "in significant agreement" with the Opposition on several measures.
But she said the government may also propose further measures to "strengthen" the bill, though as Wednesday sitting days are reserved for private members' business, it would not be that day, but "very soon after the legislation is tabled".
She said the government, since the fatal dog attack last week, had already committed to double the number of domestic animal services staff, and she had long been working on more significant reforms to the relevant laws.
