Tuesday, 1 August 2023

Animal welfare

John BERGER (Southern Metropolitan) (19:41): (326) My adjournment is for the Minister for Agriculture, Minister Tierney. Tonight I rise to speak on an issue dear to my heart: pets. During the winter break we lost one of our pets. Ronnie was only two years old and was taken from us far too soon by an autoimmune condition. I would like to thank the vets and specialists that have guided us through this very difficult time. I am sure they do this quite frequently, helping families through traumatic experiences.

Everyone in this chamber knows that pets are a crucial part of our families in this state. Trust me, I know. They provide us with loyal and reliable companionship and are often as much a part of the family as any. I know in this chamber we take the protection of our four-legged friends – and in fact any of our pets – very seriously. We are a compassionate state, and Victorians care deeply about their pets. This is why their welfare should be of major concern to this chamber. It is important to my community of Southern Metro, and that is why we must understand the issue.

As it stands, most of the current knowledge about our pet populations in Australia is related to dogs and cats. It is often held by local councils and is not always comprehensive. That is why I was proud to see the Andrews Labor government announce something special – that we will be holding the first ever pet census to give us a clear picture of pet ownership in Victoria. The census closed on Friday and provided a broad collection of information on all kinds of pets, not just dogs and cats. It included questions on the number and types of pets owned as well as the reasons for getting a pet and experiences of living with them as part of your family. It also included important questions on services that are needed to maintain pets and the financial cost that they can sometimes cause families.

It is a priority for our government to protect our pets from harm. We banned the horrific practice of puppy mills through our enactment of Oscar’s Law and ensured that our pet breeding legislation is amongst the strictest in the world, and we are committed to recognising for the first time in Victoria’s animal welfare laws the sentience of animals, to protect them from harm and legislate a framework to minimise harm that is done to animals.

The sad reality is that many pets are discarded and abandoned, sometimes even shortly after being purchased, and that is why my adjournment request is that the minister join me in thanking Save-A-Dog in Glen Iris – a team that has since 1985 saved thousands of dogs and cats. I thank them for the work that they do creating a culture of protecting animals. It is because of organisations like Save-A-Dog and those on the front line that our work in the government is made possible.