Page 3439 - Week 11 - Thursday, 15 November 2007
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to either desex their animal or apply for a sexually entire permit for breeding purposes and will be a step towards promoting responsible dog and cat ownership in the Canberra community. Again, for these very good reasons, the government does not support the amendment moved by Dr Foskey.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge the work of Ian Baird and Drew McLean from the Department of Territory and Municipal Services in providing me with all of these particular details. I think they have done a sterling job.
MR PRATT (Brindabella) (11.54): The opposition will not be supporting the Greens’ amendments.
Amendments negatived.
Clause 23 agreed to.
Remainder of the bill, by leave, taken as a whole.
MR PRATT (Brindabella) (11.54): I just want to put a couple of points on the record before we finalise this. I have talked to the minister and I am pleased to hear that the minister might be prepared down the track to relook at the issue of the dangerous dog breeds. I want to place on the record the sorts of breeds that we are concerned about. The american pit bull terrier, the pit bull terrier, the japanese tosa and the fila brasileiro are the sorts of breeds that we would be concerned about and we would ask the government, perhaps down the track, to revisit issues around these breeds. For the record, I would like to table, if I may, documents that relate to the sorts of dogs that have been identified in most other states in Australia as being dogs that could be on a dangerous dog breeds list.
I absolutely agree with the points the minister has made that there are so many dogs of so many different breedings that will present a problem and therefore you do need provisions in place to take care of those, and the government has done that with this legislation today. Yes, I sympathise with the minister’s trauma as he recalls his experience as a youngster with his alsatian-kelpie cross. I had the same problem. I had a kelpie too and, after that dog had been in a road accident and survived, because he was pretty tough, he became a bit cranky. You have to have mechanisms in place so that if neighbours identify that a particular dog has gone a bit whacko are forced to step forward and seek to have that dog licensed.
I could point out, for example, that my neighbours have a couple of beautiful labrador dogs, but they have taken steps to fence their property because they are a bit concerned. I guess what we would like to urge the government to do down the track is to put in place provisions to say, “Okay, you are privileged enough to be allowed to have a dangerous breed dog, but we want you to have mechanisms in place to keep the dog from getting out and to make sure that other little kids cannot get in.” That is where the opposition have been coming from today on that particular issue.
MR SPEAKER: You need leave to table those documents, by the way.
MR PRATT: Mr Speaker, I seek leave to table the documents.
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