Tuesday, 22 February 2022

Pet registration fees

Ms MAXWELL (Northern Victoria) (17:33): (1746) My adjournment is for the Minister for Agriculture, and the action I seek is for the minister to advise me as to the proportion of funding that the state government receives from animal registration fees that goes towards education for responsible dog and cat ownership in the Campaspe shire. Under the Domestic Animals Act 1994 local councils are required to pay the Treasurer $4.16 for every cat and dog registration each year. For Campaspe shire this equates to around $45 000 every year that they pay to the state government.

These payments are intended to promote responsible ownership, administer the act, support animal welfare and conduct research into domestic animal management. Council workers managing domestic animals who are abandoned, surrendered or unclaimed really care about the animals in their shelters. They would love them to find their forever home, but for some the reality is that it never happens. This is a sad fate for the animals, but it is also an enormous burden on our councils to find them homes, homes which may never come, and meanwhile keep them fed, watered, healthy, exercised and given love and attention. Campaspe shire spends anywhere from $800 000 to $1 million every year of ratepayer funds on their operation, and they are basically at capacity all the time. They certainly need to expand in order to meet demand, and this will cost $525 000 in capital works for their cat facility to remain compliant.

Campaspe shire has a great foster care network in Echuca-Moama and other services in the region. I have 27 councils in my electorate, so that is a lot of expense across Northern Victoria and a lot of funds going back to the government from cat and dog registrations. I believe that there used to be a statutory period provided for councils to euthanise animals, but that has now been removed. Now, if an animal is assessed as suitable for rehoming, they must be kept until that happens. But I am told in many cases that never happens. They suggested to me that 60 days would be more than enough time to determine if an animal will find a forever home. I do not want headlines that I am saying here, ‘Kill the cats’, because I am not saying that at all. But I think we need to recognise the absence of reasonable time frames, which has consequences. It is not good for the animals, and it costs councils and ratepayers a lot of money.

Going back to the action I seek from this adjournment, given the rates at which pets are abandoned it is clear that many people become pet owners probably with the best of intentions but without a clear understanding of the responsibility and cost associated with pet ownership. Education is a very important prevention tool to encourage people to fully consider this responsibility before taking on a pet. I think it is incumbent on the government, having collected these funds from councils and from ratepayers, to give transparent and comprehensive feedback on the expenditure of those funds back into those local communities. I look forward to receiving this information from the minister.