Page 1537 - Week 06 - Thursday, 7 June 2007
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
multiple cat owners to be licensed will help ensure that cats are kept under hygienic conditions which do not compromise the animals’ welfare and which minimises the number of nuisance complaints from neighbours.
The government received submissions from cat owners arguing that a multiple cat licence fee would be too costly and act as a disincentive to cat owners. Given that the cost of processing applications to keep multiple cats will generally be less than for processing similar licence applications for dogs, I have agreed that the cost of a multiple cat licence will be set at a lower level than for dogs. ACT Domestic Animal Services has advised it will adopt a complaints based approach to policing this new provision initially. This will allow cat owners time to adjust to this new requirement.
The ninth proposal goes to extending AAT rights of appeal. The government has agreed to advice from the human rights office that AAT rights should be extended to cover decisions by the registrar regarding return of seized dogs to premises and ensuring that they will be secure enough to prevent a dog escaping. This amendment is the third and final amendment made to the exposure draft version of the bill.
The tenth proposal is the declaration of dog prohibited areas by disallowable instrument. This change is an improvement over current practice because declared dog prohibited areas will be required to be mapped, not just identified by signs. This will mean the location and precise boundaries of these areas will be better known and understood by the public and the rangers enforcing the act.
My department will fund the cost of implementing these amendments within the priorities already established in the 2007-08 budget process. Following the passing of this bill, I intend to table the Domestic Animals Amendment Regulation 2007, which makes the necessary consequential amendments giving effect to the amended act, including amendments to the regulation bringing the ACT’s microchipping legislation up to date with contemporary practice based on the corresponding law in Victoria and New South Wales.
Under the amended Domestic Animals Regulation 2001, microchipping procedures for both dogs and cats will be regulated by three new instruments that I will declare and table. These are:
A notifiable instrument Identifying Microchip for Dogs and Cats (No 1) and two codes of practice: Implanting Microchips in Dogs and Cats Code of Practice 2007 and Operation of Domestic Animals Registry Services Code of Practice 2007.
Compliance with these three instruments will be made mandatory to simplify the compliance regime and enforcement.
The amendments to the act and the regulation and microchipping instruments have been drafted in parallel as an integrated whole. It is therefore my intention that this legislation will commence and take effect on the same date.
These changes usher in new era of cost-effective domestic animals management and regulation in the territory. They also demonstrate the government’s continuing
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .