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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-11-28 Daily Xml
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COMPANION CATS AND DOGS

Mr BIGNELL (Mawson) (11:04): I move:

That this house establish a select committee to investigate and report on the legislative and regulatory management of the trade in companion dogs and cats, with the goals of the elimination of cruelty and the reduction of the numbers of unwanted animals being euthanased, and in particular consider—

(a) options for the regulation of welfare standards for breeding companion dogs and cats;

(b) the adequacy of regulation of the source of companion dogs and cats for sale;

(c) the feasibility of a mandatory cooling-off period between registering intent to purchase a companion dog or cat and taking possession of the animal;

(d) the adequacy of the regulation of non-retail-shop trade in companion dogs and cats;

(e) how the registration, microchipping and desexing of companion dogs and cats might address these goals; and

(f) any other relevant matters.

I am sure many people in this place would have heard from constituents over the years and seen reports in the media of the stories that do not end well for companion dogs and cats, particularly around Christmas time when people buy a cute little furry ball of fun that they think the whole family is going to enjoy, and then, suddenly, when they are cleaning up after this kitten or this puppy, it is not quite the fairytale they had in mind when they wandered past the pet shop and were enticed by the friendly little puppy or kitten.

It is very hard to make changes in this area. It is a very emotional issue and I commend the member for Fisher who did bring into this place a proposal to look at puppy farms. The hard thing with puppy farms is that we are not sure that they are necessarily rife in South Australia. What we need to do is actually stop the problem at all its levels, so if puppy farms are being allowed to operate in Victoria and New South Wales, and then those puppies are being brought into South Australia for sale, we need to stem that trade.

It is my hope that this committee will examine all the possible areas that we can and hear from as many witnesses as we can, talk to people in the industry, from the breeders to the pet shop owners, and parties like the RSPCA and the Animal Welfare League, and just work out what we can do as members of parliament to bring in new regulations and new legislation to make South Australia a leader not only in Australia but around the world in how domestic cats and dogs—companion animals—are treated in this state. It is up to all of us to stamp out cruelty wherever it may be and this is a first step.

I would like to thank the members for Morphett and Hammond who have been very approachable on this, as has been the member for Fisher; also, the member for Port Adelaide who has fought for the rights of animals for most of her life and has been very keen to be involved in this; the members for Torrens and Florey, who have both bred dogs at various times in their lives and are really interested in this matter and I thank them for their wise counsel during the past weeks as we have discussed this as a party; and the member for Mitchell as well, who has been contacted by people in his electorate and who has taken the fight up on their behalf.

I am really hopeful that, just as we did on the grain-handling committee, the Independents, the Labor Party and the Liberal Party can work together to look after the best interests of those creatures without a voice, and that is the dogs and cats in South Australia.

An honourable member interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (11:08): I rise to support the motion by the member for Mawson. It is extremely important that this house does make some investigations, and possibly legislative changes, in relation to the regulation of the management of domestic animals, in this particular case, companion animals—dogs and cats. Having spent 22 years in veterinary practice and having a daughter who is a vet, I have been right at the coalface of pet ownership. I have seen many fantastic stories, but I have seen unfortunately some absolute tragedies where people take on more than they had ever anticipated or expected.

I have seen people being put in the position where they have been faced with shattering decisions concerning treatment of an animal that needs life-saving surgery because of the breeding of that particular animal and they cannot afford the surgery. Unfortunately you cannot be a benevolent society 100 per cent of the time—as much as you might like to be as a veterinarian; you do actually have to run the business—and people cannot afford to repair some of the genetic defects in some of these dogs that have been bred in what are called puppy farms and also by backyard breeders.

It is very important in this issue that we make sure that people are protected, but also from a veterinarian point of view that the animals are being protected, because to bring an animal into this world that we know will have genetic defects that will incur pain and suffering for many years—some dogs are living a lot longer than 14 or 15 years with modern treatments and modern diets—we need to make sure that the animals are not put through a lifetime of suffering. Animals are very stoic about pain and to anticipate and interpret the reactions to pain can be difficult for most pet owners. As a vet you get to learn to speak the language quite quickly, but to better prevent those situations occurring is something that I and the rest of the Liberal Party will be supporting, and I know the member for Hammond is very keen to come onto this committee, where we will do what we can to make sure that the future for pet ownership in South Australia is on the improve.

Dr CLOSE (Port Adelaide) (11:10): I rise to say how delighted I am that this committee is being supported across the parliament, and I would also note in reference to the earlier speech that South Australia has often taken a leading role with animal welfare. I believe that the original Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act in 1985 was, if not the first, one of the first acts to regulate the conditions under which animals should be treated and, subsequently, five or six years ago the revision to the animal welfare act was a substantial improvement on that and it has kept South Australia at the forefront.

People have been legitimately concerned for a long time about whether there is cruelty in the breeding and sale of companion dogs and cats. While we are all easily touched by the adorable puppies and kittens that we see in pet shops, we are rightfully concerned to know that the mothers of those animals have been cared for and kept in good conditions. We want to know that our pets brought into homes, where they are showered with love and care, have come from adult dogs that were similarly well treated.

There is also a legitimate outcry when we hear of the numbers of dogs and cats being put down because they are unwanted or have genetic disorders. We want to be assured that people are not recklessly buying adorable puppies and kittens, then finding them a problem or burden as they get bigger, and get rid of them. It is right that we explore ways to reduce this toll. I am very pleased to be serving on this committee and look forward to working across the parliament on how to address these issues.

Mr PEGLER (Mount Gambier) (11:12): I just indicate that I certainly support this motion and I would say that I think it is extremely important that the committee comes up with a definition that is succinct on what a companion animal is, because the last thing I want to see is farm sheepdogs and cattle dogs being brought into these regulations, if the regulations come about. I certainly support the intentions, but I do not want to see working dogs dragged into it at the same time.

Mr PENGILLY (Finniss) (11:13): I think this motion of the member for Mawson has a good deal of credibility and substance to it. I think the member for Schubert, a few minutes ago, said that in the last 20-odd years that he has been here we have never been able to win with dogs or cats, and he is probably right. I know in a former life I was partly responsible, along with the council, in putting in place some bylaws on cats, on Kangaroo Island actually.

For the life of me, these people who want dogs or cats and do not know how to look after them or do not know how to control them are the despair of many places. I heard what the member for Morphett said. I think that there is quite a bit of reality that has got to come into place on this, and we do not want dog farms, but I completely agree with the member for Mount Gambier. Keep farm dogs out of it, if you do not mind.

The other thing is that only this morning I had an email from a constituent in my electorate mightily concerned about the destruction of greyhounds that are not up to racing. I am not sure whether that is taking place in South Australia. I have to research the information a bit more, but that is something the committee may want to look at as well, if you can drag it into it.

But if I had my way on the cat issue, I would dispense with all of them. I would. Every single one of them. They are a nightmare in my electorate. They are a nightmare on my farm. I shoot cats regularly. The damage they do to the birdlife, the damage they do spreading cryptosporidiosis around rural areas and the impact they have on commercial sheep production is enormous.

For the life of me I cannot understand why people who live in towns have cats breeding and then dump the kittens 10 or 15 kilometres out of the town because they cannot bring themselves to get them destroyed. That is something the committee may also want to pick up on. If people want to have cats, get them sterilised, unless they are proper breeders for show cats or whatever. I would chop every one of their heads off. I would not even hesitate; I cannot stand the things. I might sound a bit harsh but I have seen what they do—

An honourable member interjecting:

Mr PENGILLY: A little bit harsh. I see what they do and I know there are nods around this chamber because other people know what they do. If you open up a feral cat you will find inside it birdlife—wrens, robins, all sorts of things. It is dreadful.

Mr Pegler: Lizards.

Mr PENGILLY: Lizards, the whole lot; they just wipe everything out. It is really important that if parliament can add to this at all through this committee—it might be something that parliamentary committees can pick up on—it would be a good thing. If there is room I would like to be on the committee, if it is possible—I do not know what deals have been done on this.

We have to discuss it as a party, of course, but I think there would be agreement amongst members on both sides that we need to do something about it. You really cannot blame the cats and dogs, you have to blame the damn fools who breed them and do not know how to look after them, and it goes on from there. I think the motion has a good bit of credibility, as I said at the start, and I will watch with interest.

Mr BIGNELL (Mawson) (11:16): As I said at the outset, this is an emotive debate and we have just had the member for Finniss speaking his mind. There are so many native species and animals that have been wiped out because of introduced pests like feral cats, so it is an issue and it is something that I am sure we, as a committee, will be looking at. The member mentioned sterilising cats and that is also something in the terms of reference.

I concur with the member for Mount Gambier—we had a discussion about this—about keeping farm dogs out of it. I grew up on a dairy farm for the first 10 years of my life and we had great dogs on the farm that were fantastic. It is a different lifestyle for the dogs and I know that pretty much all farmers look after their dogs because a good dog is worth a couple of workers.

We need to be careful that the committee does not go too broad because you end up not achieving anything and it just becomes a talkfest. I would like to see discussion with as many people as possible to get all the viewpoints that we can to come up with regulations and legislation to look after the welfare of not just cats and dogs but all native animals in South Australia. For many of them it is past bringing them back because they are already extinct.

There are people like John Walmsley up at Warrawong sanctuary—he was a little bit like the member for Finniss; he wore his hatred for cats on his head—who used to shoot any cats that came over the fence and he made a cat hat from them. It was a great learning experience to go to Warrawong and see these creatures that used to roam all through the Adelaide Hills and the plains that have been totally wiped out and only survive in sanctuaries such as Warrawong.

Motion carried.

Mr BIGNELL: I move:

That a committee be appointed consisting of Mr Sibbons, Dr Close, Mr Pederick, Dr McFetridge, the Hon. R.B. Such and the mover.

Motion carried.

Mr BIGNELL: I move:

That the committee have power to send for persons, papers and records and to adjourn from place to place, and that it report on 6 March 2013.

Motion carried.

Mr BIGNELL: I move:

That standing order 339 be and remain so far suspended as to enable the select committee to authorise the disclosure or publication as it sees fit of any evidence presented to the committee prior to such evidence being reported to the house.

The SPEAKER: There not being an absolute majority present ring the bells.

An absolute majority of the whole number of members being present:

Motion carried.

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