Page 419 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 2 March 1994
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incredibly important. What we are really saying here is that to address the problem of stray cats in our environment we have to come up with an integrated reform package which comprises several elements. As outlined in the report, that package should include a cost-effective desexing program that is accessible, in economical terms, to all cat owners no matter what their socioeconomic position in our community. Along with that, we recommend the registration of cats and a community program to educate people in the responsibilities of owning a cat.
I personally do not believe that any one of those elements is going to work on its own; there must be a cohesive and coordinated approach. Should any government in the future consider adopting this sort of recommendation, it must be adopted with that broad approach. Probably the most important element is community education. The report recommends community education in a whole range of areas.
The desirability of confining cats within registered addresses at night came through very strongly during our visit to the Sherbrooke Shire. Research by the Sherbrooke Shire indicated that damage to mammals and birdlife by cats straying through bushland near urban areas tends to be done more in the evening hours than in the daylight hours. As a result, the Sherbrooke Shire brought in a by-law that people keep their cats in at night. They are to be commended on the way they operate that particular by-law. It is not policed in any overpowering or overbearing way. Rangers go out on receipt of a complaint or a notification from a resident and set very safe cage traps for the cat that they hope is the one that has been complained about. Should that cat be registered, it is returned to its owner safely. If such a regime were approached in a similar fashion here, it would be very constructive and cat owners would have nothing to fear.
When Mr Moore was speaking, Mr Humphries asked, "Do you own a dog?". Mr Moore was making the comment that registration of dogs is already in place. I think an important thing to consider here is that we are not really saying that we have to have a competition between dogs and cats in their registration by owners. Dogs are registered for specific purposes. We are suggesting that cats should be registered for specific purposes as well, not just because dogs are. There are a whole range of different reasons why we need to consider registration of cats. Protective cat owners - and I have spoken to many of them over the last few months - really should look at this constructively, rather than in fear, and see just exactly how simple it is and how they can participate should such a regime be put in place.
The last major comment I make, Madam Speaker, relates to education. In an ideal world, people who take on the ownership of a pet of any kind - be it a cat, a dog, a bird, a fish or whatever - accept responsibility to the animal, something the animal deserves, and responsibility to people around them. It is a double-edged sword, as far as I am concerned. My belief is that the first responsibility is to the pet. If you look after it properly, care for it properly and take responsibility for it, then there should probably be no intrusion on the lives of people around you. But the people around you have to be considered as well. The most important thing that any government can do is to spend some money, if necessary, on educating the community, from young children up, through a slow process over many years, so that people really understand what it is they are doing when they take that responsibility on. I hope that our comments in relation to education are taken as broadly as can be.
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