Page 1084 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 5 April 2016
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The roundtable covered a whole range of animal welfare issues and helped define various areas of responsibility. It became clear that the Animal Welfare Act 1992 did not always provide adequate support for the people working in the area of animal welfare.
I would like to thank TAMS staff and stakeholder groups for all the time they put into developing this bill. I would also like to thank Minister Fitzharris for continuing to advocate on animal welfare issues and for continuing to progress this legislation.
The bill will improve the operation of the Animal Welfare Act to promote and protect the welfare, safety and health of animals, and reflects the community’s expectation that people who have animals will ensure they are properly treated. The bill also amends the following legislation: the Domestic Animals Act, the Domestic Violence and Protection Orders Act and the Magistrates Court (Animal Welfare Infringement Notices) Regulation. The bill will resolve structural and procedural issues that are hindering the application and enforcement of the act. I would like to outline some of these amendments.
A new section defines cruelty in relation to an animal, which includes: causing pain that is unjustifiable, unnecessary or unreasonable in the circumstances; beating that causes pain; abusing, terrifying or tormenting; and injuring or wounding that is unjustifiable, unnecessary or unreasonable in the circumstances. The inclusion of this list more clearly identifies the physical or objective elements of the offence, correcting previous provisions which required the court to make a subjective determination of a person’s intention.
A new section provides a clear statement that a person in charge of an animal has a duty to care. The duty to care for an animal requires that a person take reasonable steps to provide for the animal’s needs, including such basic needs as food, water, accommodation and treatment for illness, disease or injury. A person who fails to take reasonable steps to provide for an animal’s basic needs, or who abandons the animal, will be guilty of an offence for which the maximum penalty is 100 penalty units. Codes of practice made under the act provide further and more detailed guidance on the welfare of animals and responsible animal ownership.
New sections more clearly and effectively prohibit animal neglect and cruelty. Previously the act had created an unintended barrier to the prosecution of neglect because it criminalised the outcome of neglect, not the neglect itself. Specifically, it required the prosecution to establish that a person had neglected an animal in a way that caused it pain.
The bill provides a more effective prohibition on cockfighting spurs and other devices that are attached to an animal that allow the animal to cause injury to another animal. Under the amendment, a person commits an offence if they possess a prohibited item. The bill increases the maximum penalty for this offence, from five penalty units to 20 penalty units. Amendments also narrow the exception to the offence. This amendment in particular has been included at the request of RSPCA ACT during the consultation on the draft bill. It will now be more consistent with prohibitions in New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania, representing greater jurisdictional consistency.
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