Dog and Cat Management

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (14:36): I seek leave to make an explanation before asking the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation a question regarding the Dog and Cat Management Board.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE: I have been contacted by a concerned constituent in regard to several dog attacks and other breaches of the Dog and Cat Management Act. The Guardian Messenger published an article on 30 July 2014 in which a dog attack victim called for the destruction of two Staffordshire terrier dogs which attacked her at Somerton Park last month. The victim suffered a sprained ankle, badly bruised legs, injured elbows and sleepless nights resulting from the traumatic attack. Her two dogs were uninjured during the attack. The situation could have been significantly worse were it not for the heroic efforts of an onlooker, who beat the attacking dogs over the head with a lump of wood.

I have been informed by the constituent who witnessed this attack that there were several onlookers who did not intervene for fear of personal attack by the dogs. The situation was serious enough to warrant ambulance and police attendance. I am advised that the two dogs responsible for this attack were also responsible for previous attacks some 18 months prior. The Holdfast Bay council has placed a nuisance dog control order on the staffies, requiring them to undergo training, be kept in a secure enclosure and be on a lead at all other times. The owners have also been fined $580.

The victim of this attack stated that this was too lenient. One can only imagine how this situation would have turned out if these dogs had attacked a child, elderly person or indeed a pregnant woman. The Dog and Cat Management Board recently reviewed the Dog and Cat Management Act and has provided the minister with a report containing specific recommendations for improvement. I am told that the recommendations aim to improve the ability of local government to manage dogs in SA and to reduce the incidence of dog-related injury in the community.

Clearly, the Dog and Cat Management Act is failing to adequately protect users of the beaches, and councils are unable to adequately enforce provisions. My questions therefore are:

1. What recommendations were made to the minister regarding potential improvements to the act?

2. What undertaking, if any, will the minister give in relation to actioning these recommendations?

3. What time frame will the government give for making the changes?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (14:39): On 28 November, the House of Assembly appointed a select committee on dogs and cats as companion animals. The select committee's final report was tabled in parliament on 3 July 2013. The final report suggests possible future regulatory and legislative measures to improve the training of companion dogs and cats. It also contributes to an ongoing dialogue on animal rights and animal welfare.

The report provides 11 recommendations, which the committee believes will contribute to the overall goals of eliminating cruelty to dogs and cats and reducing the numbers of unwanted animals. I have now tabled the government's response to the committee's recommendations. I believe that I did that recently, in June.

When it comes to welfare standards for breeding companion animals, we know that the majority of registered breeders in South Australia raise their animals in appropriate conditions. In relation to the report, South Australians—the committee has agreed—have a very clear view that they want the operation of puppy farms in this state to be more closely controlled if not stamped out. They do not want the price of buying an animal to come at the expense of animal welfare and, as the report points out, it is currently not possible to be assured that a puppy does not come from a puppy farm unless the puppy has been purchased from a reputable breeder.

In the lead-up to the recent state election, the Labor government outlined a very clear vision for the next four years of government. Our 'Let's Keep Building South Australia' election platform included a number of commitments to help protect our animals, including our domestic companion animals (dogs and cats). The government, unlike the federal Liberal government, is true to its word, and we will deliver our election commitments and our vision to keep building South Australia.

As part of our plan to protect animals, the government will introduce a new code of practice to ensure that the pets have come from a healthy and humane breeder. This code of practice will be developed in consultation with the community and industry and will selectively target puppy farms and individuals who put profits before the welfare of the animals they breed.

The state government has enjoyed a strong working relationship with the RSPCA, which does a fantastic job in protecting and advocating for the welfare and protection of animals. To strengthen the invaluable role the RSPCA performs in this state, the government has increased its annual funding to $1 million per year, and it will be indexed.

It is important that the community is provided with clear and accurate information regarding responsible pet ownership and animal welfare. I will continue to seek advice from the Dog and Cat Management Board on whether existing material can be updated to reflect industry standard information on pet ownership. They do a great job in educating communities, particularly at schools, about how to behave and be responsible pet owners, how to behave around our domestic companion animals. This material can be provided also to potential owners before they make a decision on purchase.

There are also many benefits to desexing companion animals, and it is because of these benefits the government has long promoted it as a practice to pet owners. Desexing improves a dog's behaviour, in particular, through decreasing its potential to bite. It markedly reduces both cats' and dogs' wandering behaviour, I am told. The government, through the Dog and Cat Management Board, will continue to promote desexing to pet owners as a responsible measure in addressing pet behaviour and reducing the incidence of unwanted animals.

One of the key findings of the committee's report is that the traceability of dogs and cats is critical to reducing impoundment and, ultimately, euthanasia rates of our companion animals. Microchipping, I think, is the easiest way of reuniting a lost cat or dog with their owner. In recognition of this, the government will introduce mechanisms to ensure that all cats and dogs sold through the commercial pet trade will be microchipped before being sold. A 12-month education campaign will accompany these changes to ensure that pet shops, breeders and prospective owners understand the changes.

In addition, the government has committed $200,000 to fund a business case to establish a single publicly-accessible database for all microchipped animals, which will include details of an animal's breeder and the pet trader. Not only will this mean that animals can be reunited with their owners faster but a publicly-accessible database will also enable cases of aggressive behaviour or, indeed, health issues to be traced back to the breeder so that measures can be put in place to check that the puppies or kittens are not from a puppy farm and that that breeding stock will not be used again.

I thank the committee for its final report on dogs and cats as companion animals and for its very important body of work. It is, of course, a complicated policy area, which does invoke emotional responses from the community. Our objective, however, remains to eliminate cruelty to dogs and cats, to reduce the number of unwanted animals being euthanased and to make sure, the best we can, that pets that are introduced into our homes are bred from proper sources, do not have congenital diseases and are not bred from aggressive breeding stock.

Many issues highlighted in the report will require thorough and ongoing consultation with the community to ensure that state legislation and regulation effectively contributes to this objective. We will work closely with the Local Government Association in this regard. I am very pleased that the state government will soon be implementing a series of measures to address the key directions outlined in this report, but again I reiterate that we will be doing this in consultation with affected stakeholders and keeping the community involved in this discussion as we move forward.