RSPCA ACT’s Million Paws Walk was the organisation’s biggest annual fundraiser. Photo: Thomas Lucraft.
The committee in charge of drafting a new Code of Practice for dog owners in the ACT admits more conversations are needed about how the rules can be enforced.
But it’s also not the “spirit” of the new laws, according to RSPCA ACT.
CEO Michelle Robertson told Region: “It is a tricky one to enforce – this is going to have to be where the ACT Government has to have further conversations and put their thinking caps on.
“But I don’t think it’s the spirit and intent of the Code of Practice to try to police every single day if people are spending three hours a day with their dogs – that’s just impossible.”
The draft Code of Practice for the Welfare of Dogs in the ACT is currently open for feedback on the ACT Government’s community feedback website YourSay Conversations, with a final version to be enshrined in law as soon as early next year.
It introduces new mandatory standards, such as placing heavy restrictions around surgical debarking operations and requiring owners (or carers) to spend “a reasonable length of time each day, three hours minimum” with their dogs.
There are also guidelines where non-compliance “will not in itself constitute an offence under law” but it certainly won’t help an owner’s case “in the event of prosecution”.
These list retractable leads as “not a responsible, or safe way to walk a dog as it limits control, poses risk and could be dangerous to both the dog and the walker”, and recommend drinking water supplies should be topped up at least twice a day and bedding changed at least weekly.
The Code of Practice recommends against using retractable leads. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
The RSPCA was a member of the government’s Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (AWAC) that drafted the Code of Practice and Ms Robertson said a large part of the code’s role was legal.
“How it works in the ACT is the Animal Welfare Act provides the laws and then you have the regulations that say if you break this law, here are the penalties, etc, and then you have the codes of practice, which include the mandatory standards and guidelines designed to help from an enforcement perspective,” she explained.
“So, if we look at a notion of abandonment, for example: What does that mean? How would we prove abandonment? And how would we prosecute for abandonment?
“But if somebody leaves their dog in the backyard for two weeks and chucks a bag of food outside, that’s not good animal welfare. That’s where this code of practice, from an enforcement perspective, could be really useful for us. It gives us definitions we can use to build a case.”
Ms Robertson said few dog owners in the ACT had anything to worry about because most were already meeting or exceeding the proposed standards.
She described the ACT as generally “animal-loving” and the cases that do cross the RSPCA’s desk are more to do with “people who don’t know any better”.
“I’d venture to say most dog owners already spend more than three hours a day with their dogs – you feed them and when you come home, you spend some time greeting them, most people do take their dog for a walk, you’ve got a bit of playtime.
“If you add all of that up, that’s already three hours.”
RSPCA ACT CEO Michelle Robertson said few ACT dog owners would be impacted by the proposed laws. Image: RPSCA ACT.
She said the code would come in handy as an educational tool – an encyclopaedia of dog care people can turn to.
“It’s truly about helping people be better pet owners … there are different objectives of a code of practice, but RSPCA strongly supports having literature and information and education tools around animal welfare and pet ownership, and this is one of those ways in which it can be done,” she said.
She asked the community to read over the draft legislation and give feedback because “we need more information on it”.
“We’ve got to acknowledge that this is a code that’s out for consultation and that all of the comments will be taken into account.”
The draft Code of Practice for the Welfare of Dogs in the ACT is open for public feedback on YourSay Conversations until 22 August.
