Owners to pay HUGE fines if they neglect to walk their dogs
- Replies 7
Under the ACT Government’s Animal Welfare Act, section 6F, if a dog is confined so that it cannot exercise for a continuous period of 24 hours, the owner is liable to a whopping $4,000 fine.
As of March last year, dog owners in the ACT faced hefty fines if:
"(a) the dog is confined so that it cannot exercise for a continuous period of 24 hours; and
(b) the dog is not exercised, or allowed to exercise itself, for—
(i) the next 2 hours; or
(ii) the next 1 hour and for another hour in the next 24 hour period."
However, one major animal welfare group has been lobbying to introduce the rule nationwide, arguing that it should be put in every state and territory of the country.
Not walking your dog could soon have very costly consequences. Credit: iStock.
According to Rebecca Linigen, National Director of the global animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS Australia, providing animals with adequate care “shouldn’t need to be governed by law”, and the other states and territories should follow suit to ACT’s animal welfare act.
Ms Linigen hopes that implementing the law on a larger scale would create a more positive impact on animal welfare and would prevent more cases of animal neglect and abandonment.
The animal expert also pointed out that dogs suffer from emotional damages too, and these mental health problems can be remedied by bringing our beloved pets outdoors for interactions.
Ms Linigen also added that Australia should impose stricter laws to protect animals, dogs particularly, from other forms of animal cruelty, such as puppy farming and overbreeding.
And while the ACT Government’s Animal Welfare Act Section 6F sees to it that dogs get their much-needed exercise regularly, there are a few exceptions.
The rules may not apply for owners with an open yard for their dogs to move freely, provided that they get to go outside on a daily basis.
Another exception is for those owners with a dog that needs to be confined for its own welfare, such as dogs who recently went through a surgical procedure.
So, most likely, the law would affect apartment renters who are dog owners as well.
In similar news, a law is also being considered for QLD residents, stating that a landlord could refuse a tenant’s request to bring home a pet.
As of March last year, dog owners in the ACT faced hefty fines if:
"(a) the dog is confined so that it cannot exercise for a continuous period of 24 hours; and
(b) the dog is not exercised, or allowed to exercise itself, for—
(i) the next 2 hours; or
(ii) the next 1 hour and for another hour in the next 24 hour period."
However, one major animal welfare group has been lobbying to introduce the rule nationwide, arguing that it should be put in every state and territory of the country.
Not walking your dog could soon have very costly consequences. Credit: iStock.
According to Rebecca Linigen, National Director of the global animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS Australia, providing animals with adequate care “shouldn’t need to be governed by law”, and the other states and territories should follow suit to ACT’s animal welfare act.
Ms Linigen hopes that implementing the law on a larger scale would create a more positive impact on animal welfare and would prevent more cases of animal neglect and abandonment.
The animal expert also pointed out that dogs suffer from emotional damages too, and these mental health problems can be remedied by bringing our beloved pets outdoors for interactions.
Ms Linigen also added that Australia should impose stricter laws to protect animals, dogs particularly, from other forms of animal cruelty, such as puppy farming and overbreeding.
And while the ACT Government’s Animal Welfare Act Section 6F sees to it that dogs get their much-needed exercise regularly, there are a few exceptions.
The rules may not apply for owners with an open yard for their dogs to move freely, provided that they get to go outside on a daily basis.
Another exception is for those owners with a dog that needs to be confined for its own welfare, such as dogs who recently went through a surgical procedure.
So, most likely, the law would affect apartment renters who are dog owners as well.
In similar news, a law is also being considered for QLD residents, stating that a landlord could refuse a tenant’s request to bring home a pet.
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