Thread: Bite on Bad Owners

OWNERS who don't walk their dogs at least once a day could be punished under new animal welfare laws proposed by the head of the Victorian RSPCA.

Under Dr Hugh Wirth's plan, cat and dog owners who do not care for their pets properly could face fines of up to $12,000 for animal cruelty, and even jail in extreme cases.

Dr Wirth is one of four experts appointed by the federal Department of Agriculture to draft national animal welfare guidelines.

"The draft will tell people what they have to do rather than what they want to do," Dr Wirth told the Herald Sun.

"The new standards would be regulatory, therefore a breach of the standards is a breach of the law."

Dr Wirth said the proposed laws would overcome problems animal inspectors had experienced taking action against bad owners.

If Dr Wirth's proposal becomes law nationally, magistrates could consider jail in extreme cases
He said jail sentences would not be handed out for a first offence but it would be something available for magistrates to consider.

"I would be amazed if a magistrate ordered jail time on the first offence, but, like every other offence under cruelty legislation, jail is an option," Dr Wirth said.

Dogs' Victoria chief executive Elizabeth White said any strategy to protect pets was vital.

"The idea of having some kind of prescribed welfare codes is really very, very important," she said.

But Ms White said the idea that the law would make it easier for RSPCA inspectors to enforce penalties was ambitious.

"The intent is fantastic. How you would actually go about putting a burden of proof on inspectors to say 'this dog has only been walked once and not twice', but I am being a bit picky when I say that," she said.

High school student Jane Cahir, 15, of Rosanna, regularly walks her dog Clive. But she believes it would be difficult to catch bad owners.

"There's a big difference between not looking after your dog and not taking your dog for a walk," Jane said.

"The dog should be a part of your family."

A spokesman for the federal Department of Agriculture said the working group was one of six set up to look at animal welfare.

"One of the goals of the Australian Animal Welfare Strategy is to develop national standards and guidelines for the care of different kinds of animals," a spokesman said.

Dr Wirth said the draft was in its early stages.

The working party is designed to create a national standard, but ultimately the laws would have to be passed by state governments.

A spokesman for the Victorian Agricultural Department said they would not support fines for people who did not walk their animals.


--------

Fucking bring it on. To all the cockheads who don't feed, walk and then abuse and fail to desex and drown themselves in puppies and kittens can suck my cock, and pay $12,000 for their negligent stupidity

what if you have a large back yard sounds pretty fucking stupid now i can imagine twice as much dog shit everywhere

Greaser I'm guessing that is a requirement for dogs on chains or maybe even indoor dogs. But especially dogs on chains.

I like this idea but it's definitely way too idealistic. What about these owners that get fined $12,000? Are their pets taken away as well? If not, how do they expect them to keep caring for them if they're paying out the ass?

And there's no way to regulate how many times every dog owner has walked their dog. Or even find out who has pets and who doesn't unless you do some sort of door-to-door census which I'm not sure is legal and is just as easy to skirt.

But, at least they're doing something?

Yeah, why enforce rules you really cant enforce, I mean i can understand about animal abuse and those fuckers should get a hefty type of fine, but to regulate this shit i dunno about that

Who has time to walk their dog once a day?

Well if you own a dog (or any pet) you should take care of it.

Case in point. I've got neighbors next door that do not take care of their dog. They got a dog even though their fence is sub-standard (missing several slats) and the dog gets loose regularly. Which really pisses me off since I have a cat that survived a vicious dog attack a year and a half ago. Their dog uses our yard as an extension of their yard. I have gone over and talked to the wife/mother and explained our situation.

Her stupid kids let the dog out and take away the barricades or do not monitor the dog or the barricade. (Right now it is a couple of slats set diagonally and some chairs in front of the gaping hole.) If we had the money we would replace the fence in a heart beat. But money is tight right now and we don't. So the dog gets loose regularly and runs around the neighborhood. I never see them walking the dog or making sure it gets proper training or stimulation. It pisses me off.

You don't have a dog just to have a dog. It is a living creature with needs. It is very selfish of them to just have a dog for their own enjoyment without living up to the responsibilities inherent in pet ownership. I've been tempted to call animal control. (As well as child services - for other reasons, not abuse but completely unlivable household environment more than once. It's like an episode of "how clean is your house" or "clean house" but worse over there.) But I don't because I don't want to cause the family hardship.

Yet they seem to have no problem causing us or our cat hardship.

It may be a law that is difficult to enforce, but if it gives them some legal grounding to go after those that they can prove it... well more power to them. Too bad it isn't in the US.

Pet ownership is not a right. It is a responsibility. If you take it upon yourself to own a pet then you are supposed to take on the responsibility of its welfare. Not just for your own selfish enjoyment, while neglecting it when you aren't "enjoying" it.

That sounds like an impossible law to enforce. What even constitutes a walk? If I take my dog outside my house with a leash, walk 30 feet, and come back, is that a walk? What about 100 feet? Are they going to have a sliding scale based on the dogs species/size? Some smaller dogs really dont even need walks if you take em out back and throw the ball around for a little while.

Originally Posted by rspca website

About Us

The RSPCA is a non-government community based animal welfare charity.

LOL i just kind of assumed that the rspca had something to do with lawmaking in Australia. I'd give the chances of this bill passing about... 0?

Even if it creates some awareness and maybe even get people to think "shit...my dog must be pretty fucken bored...and my ass is looking big lately"...

This little **** was filmed riding his bike over a kitten and not even a week later they released an add that message was simple "If you don't like cats, leave them alone" and it just goes to show how little it takes to raise awareness about things...no the bill probably won't get pushed but let people be more aware about things and actually consider their pets for once and give them some fresh water and tlc!!!

And P.S, cats FTW.

Originally Posted by rubytuesday

Well if you own a dog (or any pet) you should take care of it.

Case in point. I've got neighbors next door that do not take care of their dog. They got a dog even though their fence is sub-standard (missing several slats) and the dog gets loose regularly. Which really pisses me off since I have a cat that survived a vicious dog attack a year and a half ago. Their dog uses our yard as an extension of their yard. I have gone over and talked to the wife/mother and explained our situation.

Her stupid kids let the dog out and take away the barricades or do not monitor the dog or the barricade. (Right now it is a couple of slats set diagonally and some chairs in front of the gaping hole.) If we had the money we would replace the fence in a heart beat. But money is tight right now and we don't. So the dog gets loose regularly and runs around the neighborhood. I never see them walking the dog or making sure it gets proper training or stimulation. It pisses me off.

We had that problem once on our farm, there were a douple of domestic type dogs that were terrorising our sheep. Dad knew where they were from, when we confronted the owner they denied that the dogs were ever our of their sight. Dad said "No worries. If they aren't your dogs, you won't be upset when I shoot them if I ever see them again". We never saw them again! Funny that.

I agree that this will be pretty impossible to enforce. I like the idea and all, but I think it's all for show and I don't see how much research went into it. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out.

Gosu, you are supposed to exercise for 30 minutes every day. You take your dog with you and go for a walk. If you can't afford that time, don't get a dog.

Originally Posted by Jet

Gosu, you are supposed to exercise for 30 minutes every day. You take your dog with you and go for a walk. If you can't afford that time, don't get a dog.

Or at least get a nice, big fenced-in backyard. You can play fetch with the dog for a while, at the very least.

Originally Posted by Jet

Dad said "No worries. If they aren't your dogs, you won't be upset when I shoot them if I ever see them again". We never saw them again! Funny that.

Epic. Your dad is awesome.