Page 3295 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 13 November 2007
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purchase of dresses and shoes, but what about the impulse purchase of cute little kittens, cuddly little rabbits and sweet little dogs? Unfortunately, these sweet, cuddly, cute animals require a certain amount of care that the impulse buyer is often not able to provide, either financially or because of lack of time or all the other kinds of reasons why people are not able to look after their animals properly. As a community, we must ensure that we take proactive steps so that our pets can remain an important and well looked after part of people’s lives and not be just afterthoughts and misadventures for others to clean up after.
I believe that, with my proposed amendments—which have been circulated and which I will put in the detail stage—this bill will make a significant impact in improving the management of dogs and cats in the ACT. I am very pleased to work with the government in ensuring that that happens.
MR HARGREAVES (Brindabella—Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, Minister for Housing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (5.20): I thank members for their contributions to the debate on the Domestic Animals Amendment Bill 2007. I also would like to express the government’s appreciation to the opposition spokesman and to the Greens for the provision of their amendments in sufficient time for us to actually give some consideration to them. We do appreciate this level of cooperation. By and large, we are agreed that this is a good piece of legislation, and it is nice to have tripartisan commitment to it. I understand that there are amendments of other members, and I will deal with those during the detail stage.
Following representations from the Canberra Greyhound Adoption Service, I have agreed to a further amendment to the bill to allow ex-racing greyhounds, which have undergone suitable training, not to be muzzled in a public place. I re-emphasise that that is after suitable training, because we do not want people frightened by the appearance of a greyhound.
Dr Foskey also pointed out that dogs can compete in various shows and competitions without their normal collars and, therefore, their tags will be missing. I have an amendment that will permit the registrar to exempt dogs from being tagged in those circumstances. I flag that the government will not be supporting Dr Foskey’s amendment, not because we believe that what is in the amendment is wrong; we just believe that the provisions the government is proposing go a bit further than that.
Dr Foskey’s amendment to subsection (b) of section 7 refers to dogs participating in an event organised by the ACT Canine Association. What, we ask, would happen if you were a member of the Companion Dog Club? What happens if you are a member of a number of dog-type clubs? What we are saying is that, provided that the registrar approves that particular activity, that will be fine. To single out one particular organisation, I think, is a bit restrictive. We are quite happy to support the thrust of the amendment, but not the detail.
Notwithstanding the amendments, the bill represents state-of-the-art best practice in dog and cat management in Australia, bringing the territory up to date with recent advances interstate, particularly in Victoria and New South Wales. At this point, I would also like to express my appreciation for the officers within TAMS, particularly
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