Page 866 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 20 March 2019
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2018 that the number had reached 10 field rangers. In effect, the resources available for dog management were eight rangers from 2007 to 2016, but then from 2016 to 2018 that was effectively halved to four teams. With the changes announced by Ms Fitzharris we have now gone to five field teams. From eight rangers who may have been able to go out, potentially, to eight separate incidents, we now have rangers who can attend potentially five separate incidents at any one time.
With around two dog attacks reported each day in Canberra, dog management is chronically under-resourced. We know that Ms Le Couteur should support the motion today because she spoke in those terms in the newspaper on 15 March. She said:
Resourcing is often a major barrier to effective enforcement, and this problem needs to be addressed. There simply aren’t enough DAS rangers to do all the work required.
She said this despite her own government saying that they were going to double the number of rangers in 2018. Ms Le Couteur went on to say:
On top of that, we also need clear legal action to enforce the penalties to ensure that people understand what is and is not acceptable behaviour.
I agree. It is something that we have brought to this Assembly time and again which has not been supported by Ms Le Couteur.
Madam Deputy Speaker, these are just some of the reasons why we have brought this motion to the Assembly today. Firstly, there is the tragic death of the beloved therapy alpaca, which has generated a huge outpouring of sorrow for the owners of that alpaca. The number of dog attacks in Canberra in 2017-18 was 485. The average rate of dog attacks, one a day, reported in Canberra in 2016-17 has risen to an average of two a day in 2017-18.
People believe, families believe, that they should be able to safely walk their own dog, their alpaca or their ferret—whatever your pet may be—on a leash around their own block without fear of being attacked. If such a terrible event does happen, members of the Canberra community expect to be able to call domestic animal services and get a swift response. They also expect a timely and full investigation and to be kept informed of the progress and the result of that investigation. The government is falling down on most, if not all, of these measures. All the community wants is timely, efficient, effective management of dog issues in the ACT.
I can admit that we are probably never going to eliminate dog attacks. I am not trying to suggest that the changes we present will stop all dog attacks. But we can do better. Madam Deputy Speaker, we can do better and we must do better for the sake of all of our pet-loving Canberra residents and for the sake of their pets. Their pets are being bitten, mauled, maimed and even killed as a result of the irresponsible actions of some other pet owners.
That is bad enough. That is bad enough in itself, but then to not get what people believe is an appropriate response to that event, to that attack, to that desperately sad
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