THOUSANDS OF QUEENSLANDERS HAVE THEIR SAY ON SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF UNWANTED CATS AND DOGS
Published Wednesday, 08 August, 2007 at 10:46 AM
JOINT STATEMENT
Premier and Minister for Trade
The Honourable Peter Beattie
Minister for Primary Industries and Fisheries
The Honourable Tim Mulherin
Queenslanders want an end to the euthanasia of thousands of unwanted cats and dogs each year across the State.
Premier Peter Beattie said more than 5,200 people had responded to a discussion paper on how best to manage the growing and tragic problem of unwanted cats and dogs being euthanased in their tens of thousands each year.
“While only a preliminary count and cursory examination of responses has occurred since submissions closed on Friday August 3, so far it is clear that Queenslanders want changes made to how we manage our companion animals right across the State,” Mr Beattie said.
“When I launched the paper at the RSPCA at Fairfield last month I urged Queenslanders to have their say, and they have.
“Between 2002 and 2006 the RSPCA and the Animal Welfare League were forced to kill more than 53,000 healthy cats.
“The staff at both organisations have told me of the distress this senseless killing causes them, especially during the spring and summer cat breeding season when hundreds of healthy kittens must be put down on a weekly basis.
“The discussion paper asked people to make comment on a number of proposed measures to address this untenable situation, such as:
• statewide mandatory registration of all dogs and cats;
• statewide mandatory micro-chipping of all dogs and cats;
• Mandatory desexing before the sale of all dogs and cats with exceptions for registered breeders, working dogs etc;
linking cheaper registration for pets to desexing;
greater public education about responsible pet ownership.
“Submissions have been received from individuals, local government authorities and stakeholder organisations including the RSPCA and the Animal Welfare league.
“The views of Queenslanders are now being analysed and this information will be used by my Government to decide how best to make improvements to the management of cats and dogs across the State,” the Premier said.
The Minister for Primary Industries and Fishers, Tim Mulherin said a number of local government authorities, including Brisbane, Ipswich and Pine Rivers councils and the Local Government Association of Queensland, individually applied for and were given extensions.
“Their input will be examined, along with the other 5268 submissions, before final recommendations are considered by Cabinet prior to the end of the year,” Mr Mulherin said.
“Without pre-empting the final report, it appears that there is little support for maintaining the current system.
“There is significant support for changes to state-wide registration and micro-chipping.
“Responses have also indicated that people see a need for the control of breeding although there are differences of opinion on how this should be done.
“Those options include education of owners, incentives for desexing or compulsory desexing,” Minister Mulherin said.
Wednesday August 8, 2007
For more information:
Premier’s Office – 3224 4500
Minister’s Office – 3239 3000
Premier Peter Beattie said more than 5,200 people had responded to a discussion paper on how best to manage the growing and tragic problem of unwanted cats and dogs being euthanased in their tens of thousands each year.
“While only a preliminary count and cursory examination of responses has occurred since submissions closed on Friday August 3, so far it is clear that Queenslanders want changes made to how we manage our companion animals right across the State,” Mr Beattie said.
“When I launched the paper at the RSPCA at Fairfield last month I urged Queenslanders to have their say, and they have.
“Between 2002 and 2006 the RSPCA and the Animal Welfare League were forced to kill more than 53,000 healthy cats.
“The staff at both organisations have told me of the distress this senseless killing causes them, especially during the spring and summer cat breeding season when hundreds of healthy kittens must be put down on a weekly basis.
“The discussion paper asked people to make comment on a number of proposed measures to address this untenable situation, such as:
• statewide mandatory registration of all dogs and cats;
• statewide mandatory micro-chipping of all dogs and cats;
• Mandatory desexing before the sale of all dogs and cats with exceptions for registered breeders, working dogs etc;
linking cheaper registration for pets to desexing;
greater public education about responsible pet ownership.
“Submissions have been received from individuals, local government authorities and stakeholder organisations including the RSPCA and the Animal Welfare league.
“The views of Queenslanders are now being analysed and this information will be used by my Government to decide how best to make improvements to the management of cats and dogs across the State,” the Premier said.
The Minister for Primary Industries and Fishers, Tim Mulherin said a number of local government authorities, including Brisbane, Ipswich and Pine Rivers councils and the Local Government Association of Queensland, individually applied for and were given extensions.
“Their input will be examined, along with the other 5268 submissions, before final recommendations are considered by Cabinet prior to the end of the year,” Mr Mulherin said.
“Without pre-empting the final report, it appears that there is little support for maintaining the current system.
“There is significant support for changes to state-wide registration and micro-chipping.
“Responses have also indicated that people see a need for the control of breeding although there are differences of opinion on how this should be done.
“Those options include education of owners, incentives for desexing or compulsory desexing,” Minister Mulherin said.
Wednesday August 8, 2007
For more information:
Premier’s Office – 3224 4500
Minister’s Office – 3239 3000