Page 5228 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 29 November 2017
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communicate regarding the release of a seized dog in one of the many amendments, and I am disappointed that neither party did that.
Prevention and enforcement are just as important as the black letter of the law. I call on both sides of the Assembly to support efforts to prevent dog attacks, whether it is through more accessible animal behaviour classes, better dog parks or additional staff for the directorate to investigate complaints. The Greens support this bill in principle, and I anticipate supporting all of the government’s amendments when they are moved. These amendments improve the bill both in a technical, legal way and in strengthening community protections. We look forward to discussing the amendments in the detail stage.
MR COE (Yerrabi—Leader of the Opposition) (11.51), in reply: In January this year, after a series of reports of vicious dog attacks in our city, my late colleague Steve Doszpot asked Canberrans to contact him about their experiences with dangerous dogs. Many Canberrans took up Steve’s offer. They told him not only of dog attacks but of the often inadequate response by the ACT government when they reported these attacks. Both the law and the administration were inadequate.
The public consultation by Steve in particular and the Canberra Liberals as a team, including on the have your say website, was very productive. Other evidence began to emerge about the scale of the problem. When questioned in this place, the minister revealed that 155 people in 2016—that is three per week—were hospitalised as a result of dog attacks. This was up from 100 in 2012.
On 29 March Mr Doszpot spoke in the Assembly on the problem of dangerous dog attacks. In particular he called on the Labor-Greens government to review the law that allows dogs that have viciously attacked people or other dogs to be returned to their owners. Minister Fitzharris, supported by the Labor Party and the Greens, watered down Mr Doszpot’s motion and said that there was an element of alarmism in Mr Doszpot’s motion. She preferred to focus on her draft animal welfare and management strategy that was released on the same day. Six months later, on 21 September, the minister presented the animal welfare and management strategy and a ministerial statement on the management of dogs. These documents showed no appreciation of the problem or how to address it.
According to the minister there were “only” 389 reports of incidents involving a dog in 2016-17. Processes and procedures for dealing with these incidents were “working efficiently and effectively”. She concluded that “it is not possible to create a set of criteria for dealing with dangerous dogs”. The amendments promised by the government have not materialised. Expecting such a response, or lack of one, we, the Liberals, had already started drafting our own legislation. Of course, we do not have a department or directorate to assist with this. We do so with our limited staff resources in our offices.
The need for action was sadly demonstrated on 25 October, when a Canberra woman was killed by her own dog in her own home. The dog had been returned to her after it had viciously attacked another person in August. The person, as reported, went to hospital and required over 40 stitches. The dog apparently had also been injured in the
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