Proposed new laws would see stronger punishments for the owners of wildlife-killing dogs with the creation of a new offence for instances where dogs injure or kill wildlife in specified areas.
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A person found guilty of the new offence could be fined up to $5040, be liable for a range of costs incurred and may have their dog destroyed.
This follows a string of dog attacks on little penguins across the state.
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Local Government Minister Mark Shelton announced the proposed changes at Low Head on Sunday.
"The government is committed to ensuring these amendments are in place ahead of the peak breeding season for little penguins over the summer months," Mr Shelton said.
The penalty for taking a dog into a prohibited area containing sensitive habitat for native wildlife will also increase to $3360.
"This approach will support local governments wishing to prohibit the entry of dogs into ecologically significant areas, such as little penguin colonies," Mr Shelton said.
Low Head Penguin Tours manager Shirley Lincoln said there have been four known attacks on penguins in the Low Head area in the past 12 months.
"Something should be in place to make people responsible for their animals," Ms Lincoln said.
"We can start on this and build up more."
Tasmanian Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson said, although he commended the government for taking this first step, more needed to be done such as installing surveillance and testing a dog's DNA to stop penguin attacks.
"It's a great initiative, but on its own it's not going to solve the problem - catching the culprits is the biggest part of the problem," Senator Whish-Wilson said.
"I would rather have seen funds and energy and effort go into surveillance and protection measures.
"We've had many, many hundreds of penguins killed, even in recent years, and no one has been caught and no one has been fined.
"The reason no one has been fined or prosecuted is because we don't know who they are. We haven't been able to catch them.
"Unless you are taking measures like putting cameras in rookeries ... the fines on their own are going to be useless unless you have surveillance in place to enforce those fines."
The government has released the proposed changes to the Dog Control Act 2000 for public comment.
Public consultation on the proposed changes will close on September 27, 2019.