Adjournment speech

Tania MAXWELL (Northern Victoria) (17:33): 

My adjournment (1746) is for the Minister for Agriculture (Hon. Mary-Anne Thomas MP), and the action I seek is for the minister to advise me about the proportion of funding the state government receives from animal registration fees that goes towards education for responsible dog and cat ownership in Campaspe Shire.

Under the Domestic Animals Act 1994, local councils are required to pay the Treasurer $4.10 for every cat and dog registration each year. For Campaspe Shire Council, this equates to around $45,000 every year that it pays to the state government.

These payments are intended to promote responsible ownership, administer the Act, support animal welfare and fund research into domestic animal management.

Council workers managing domestic animals that are abandoned, surrendered or unclaimed really care about the animals in their shelters. They would love them to find their forever home but, for some, the reality is that it never happens. This is a sad fate for the animals, but it is also an enormous burden on our councils to find them homes, homes which may never come, and meanwhile keep them fed, watered, healthy, exercised and given love and attention.

Campaspe council spends anywhere from $800,000 to $1 million every year from ratepayer funds on shelter operations, and these are basically at capacity all the time. The shelters need to expand in order to meet demand, and this will cost $525,000 in capital works for Campaspe’s cat facility to remain compliant.

Campaspe council has a great foster care network in Echuca, Moama and other places in the region. I have 27 councils in my electorate, so that is a lot of expense across Northern Victoria, and a lot of funds going back to the government from cat and dog registration fees. I believe there used to be a statutory period provided for councils to euthanise animals, but that has now been removed.

Now, if an animal is assessed as suitable for re-homing, it must be kept until that happens. But I am told in many cases that never happens. The council suggested to me that 60 days would be more than enough time to determine if an animal will find a forever home. Now, I do not want headlines that I am saying here, ‘Kill the cats’, because I am not saying that at all. But I think we need to recognise the absence of reasonable time frames, which has consequences. It is not good for the animals, and it costs councils and ratepayers a lot of money.

Going back to the action I seek from this adjournment, given the rates at which pets are abandoned, it is clear that many people become pet owners probably with the best of intentions but without a clear understanding of the responsibility and costs associated with pet ownership.

Education is a very important prevention tool to encourage people to consider this responsibility before taking on a pet. I think it is incumbent on the government, having collected these funds from councils and from ratepayers, to give transparent and comprehensive feedback on the expenditure of those funds into those local communities. I look forward to receiving this information from the minister.