Page 4094 - Week 11 - Thursday, 21 September 2017

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The Assembly voted—

Ayes 11

Noes 8

Mr Barr

Ms Orr

Mr Coe

Mr Milligan

Ms Burch

Mr Pettersson

Mrs Dunne

Mr Parton

Ms Cheyne

Mr Ramsay

Mr Hanson

Ms Cody

Mr Rattenbury

Mrs Jones

Ms Fitzharris

Ms Stephen-Smith

Ms Lawder

Ms Le Couteur

Ms Lee

Original question, as amended, resolved in the affirmative.

Sitting suspended from 12.31 to 2.30 pm.

Questions without notice

Animals—dog attacks

MR COE: My question is to the Minister for Transport and City Services. In your ministerial statement this morning, you said:

From these millions of interactions for the years 2016 and 2017 the Domestic Animal Services received only 389 reports of incidents involving a dog.

Minister, why are you trivialising the fact that there were 389 incidents in Canberra?

MS FITZHARRIS: Far from trivialising it, I think the extensive statement that I gave, and statements that I have given previously, to the Assembly show the seriousness with which I take these issues.

MR COE: Minister, how many of these 389 incidents resulted in the death of an animal or in a person needing to go to hospital?

MS FITZHARRIS: With regard to those incidents in 2016 and 2017, of the 389, 88 involved incidents with a dog and a human, 176 a dog with another dog, 82 a dog with another animal, 31 a dog with a human and another animal, and 12 were reported but found not to be an attack or harassment. I note, as I believe I did in my statement earlier, that this can also include people and their own dogs. I will take on notice the specific question about how many of those resulted in a presentation to hospital.

MR WALL: Minister, are you happy with the current level of enforcement by domestic animal services?

MS FITZHARRIS: Yes, I am, but I would note that oftentimes an attack and enforcement are not necessarily related. In fact, often an attack or an incident involving a dog may not have come to the attention of domestic animal services previously.


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