Page 873 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 20 March 2019
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enforcement actions. It would be helpful if Minister Steel could provide an update to the Assembly at some point outlining how this increase in the number of rangers has affected service delivery and outcomes.
Following on from my many consultations with the RSPCA and the Animal Defenders Office, I note that there are a number of issues that are worthy of further consideration. These include improving the safety of dog parks via more DAS ranger patrols. It would be good to look into how it would be possible to ban certain owners and their dogs from dog parks. I have heard several reports of serious dog attacks taking place at dog parks, and this is an area where the government has the power to make improvements. It is perhaps exacerbated by the fact that the fences at dog parks mean that some dog owners think that it is okay to bring dogs there that do not come when called, as at least they cannot run away any further than the dog park fence, but it still means that they are not able to control their dog. This may not be a socially responsible use of a dog park, and the issue is for the other dogs and the other people in the dog park.
We are very pleased that there are government subsidies for desexing, but we would like to see a better system for organising this. Currently, desexing vouchers are sold by DAS for $190, as opposed to the retail cost of desexing, which is around $300. These vouchers are then able to be used at RSPCA ACT. I am unsure as to whether or not there is a strict follow-up process to ascertain whether the dog owner has used their voucher. That could be useful. There need to be more places where these vouchers can be used, as well as a follow-up process.
Defending the welfare and health of both people and animals is something that is important to the ACT Greens. The care and management of domestic animals such as dogs should be regulated and appropriate measures put in place to address circumstances where a dog is inappropriately managed and causes serious injury to people or other animals. However, I do not agree with Ms Lawder that a punitive approach is the best way to achieve this. I prefer to see a much greater emphasis on the education of dog owners and the community more broadly, such as the provision of dog safety information and education to primary school age children.
Often irresponsible dog owners are not prosecuted and, unfortunately, they may well go on to acquire further dogs. Regulations around the sale of dogs and puppies appear to be largely unenforced. I was involved in the Seventh Assembly’s attempts to regulate those. I believe that the puppy farm legislation was finally passed in the Eighth Assembly; however, enforcement continues to be an issue. The ease with which people can obtain dogs is very concerning. Dogs can be bought through Facebook or Gumtree, including dogs advertised for “pig-dogging”, which is a barbaric practice. Sometimes dogs are given away free online. As I said, I first raised this in the Seventh Assembly, and this is an area where better enforcement is needed.
I thank Mr Steel for his amendment because it contains more accurate and up-to-date data. The big advantage of being the responsible minister is that he can do this. I thank him for it. I also thank Minister Steel for just changing paragraph (1) and leaving paragraph (2) intact. All of the things that Ms Lawder is calling for in her motion are still there, unaltered, which the Greens support. All that the amendment
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