Released 29/11/2017
The ACT Government has today put forward a suite of amendments to strengthen responsible dog ownership and the management of dangerous dogs in our community. This follows the development of the Animal Welfare and Management Strategy and commitments to strengthen legislation.
“The Government supported the Bill proposed by the late Steve Doszpot with additional amendments to strengthen the Bill. I thank Steve for his passion, initiative and openness in discussions around the management of dangerous dogs” said Minister for Transport and City Services Meegan Fitzharris.
These reforms will target dog owners who act irresponsibly, by imposing greater fines and penalties, greater seizure and informant powers and more effective provisions to reduce illegal breeding and increase compliance with mandatory de-sexing, which are all important to preventing and managing dog attacks. The reforms fundamentally shift the onus of the legislation to prioritise public safety.
Minister Fitzharris said that these measures have been the result of extensive discussions across the community to ensure they are effective in keeping the community safe from dangerous dogs.
“We know the vast majority of dog owners love their pets and abide by the rules. However, there are some people in our community that aren’t doing the right thing and they are putting people at risk.”
The key reforms to the Domestic Animals Act, including the Government’s support of the Bill, will:
- make it mandatory that a dog is declared dangerous and destroyed if it attacks and kills or causes serious injury to a person, unless there are special mitigating circumstances
- increase declared dangerous dog licence application fees and renewals from $186.50 to $750 to ensure that keepers of dangerous dogs are serious about putting protections in place
- introduce a new tiered system for managing nuisance, harassing and dangerous dogs with the introduction of a ‘control order’ for potentially dangerous dogs and greater powers for rangers in respect of nuisance and harassing dogs or irresponsible owners
- introduce ownership bans for irresponsible owners who cannot properly manage and control their dog
- introduce a ‘public safety test’ in dealing with dogs that could be dangerous and in making important decisions about dogs and community safety. This will ensure that dogs that are apprehended by Domestic Animal Services are not returned to owners before proper investigations are conducted. It will provide an ability to destroy a dog if there is an unacceptable risk to public safety
- introduce a self-reporting obligation for owners of dogs involved in serious dog attacks and an obligation for owners of attacking dogs to exchange details with victims, or face tough penalties, similar to changes recently announced in South Australia
- introduce a power to destroy a dangerous dog even if that dog has not committed an attack, but if it poses an unacceptable risk to the safety of the public or other animals.
“Further to these legislative reforms, the Government has also announced additional resources for Domestic Animal Services to enable them to effectively administer and implement these new laws. The increased resources will allow the service to be more proactive in ensuring dangerous dog owners are looking after their pets in a responsible way and are held accountable if they continue to put the community at risk.”
“Responsible pet ownership is everyone’s responsibility. The ACT is a fantastic place to have a dog, but it is vital everyone knows what it means to be a responsible pet owner. This includes looking after and taking care of their dog, knowing the nature and temperament of their dog, maintaining effective control of their dog in public places, de-sexing, registration and micro-chipping.
“I would like to thank all those in the community who have shared their experience and stakeholder organisations who have supported the introduction of these new measures in addition to the other actions in the ACT Animal Welfare and Management Strategy released in September of this year,” Minister Fitzharris concluded.
- Statement ends -
Meegan Fitzharris, MLA | Media Releases
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