Animals Legislation (Animal Care) Bill 2007

Thanks to John Cassar for permission to cross post his wise words.

It has come to my attention early this evening that a new Animal care bill,had its first reading in state parliament. If this bill is allowed to proceed ,and become law ,it will be the beginning of the end for the dog world as we know it. This bill is not only Draconian in its aims to control dog breeding, but is also meant to effectively cease and destroy any enjoyment we have as pure bred dog owners.

This bill will stop anyone who owns any Docked tail breed or has a De-barked dog from being OWNED or SHOWN. This is only the tip of the iceberg,as it will also allow any one who owns any breed of dog with a docked tail or de-barked to be legally prosecuted, to the full powers of the law. If we all sit back and wait for someone else to do something about it, than it will be too late.We must step up and contact our local member of parliament, to let them know resoundingly of how we feel about this extreme prejudice against us,otherwise we will surely become as extinct as our breeds will become. We need to mobilize anyone who owns a docked tail breed of dog,and anyone who owns one of our puppies to write and e-mail their local member, and let them know that they will not get away with this.

These people only understand one thing,and that is VOTES. If we contact them and flood their offices with mail and phone calls to let them know their JOBS are on the line if they support this bill,than we stand a chance,but we must stand UNITED in this as a single dog body,both breeders and owners alike. If you believe that this is scare mongering, than you better think again,as this is already going on around the world.in the U.S.A just a few months ago in California a similar bill was defeated only when pet owners joined forces with members of the police department to help drum up support to defeat that bill. We are surely becoming a Police State with the government dictating on how and when and where, we can legally own a Pet.

This is only the start, already there are plans to introduce more breeds to the dangerous dogs list,amongst them, my own breed the Rhodesian Ridgeback. It's no secret that Hugh Worth has a distinct dislike for certain breeds and he now has the Department of Primary Industry behind him to introduce legislation into parliament, to bring it into effect. I have had to fight in the past to keep ownership of my firearms, when both state and federal governments wanted to take them away from me. As a member of the Sporting Shooters Association with thousands of other members like myself, we managed to hold back that tide and still have the right to own a firearm.

We cannot afford to sit back and watch this unfold, as every minute counts.Call all your friends or email them where ever they may live this will not stop here in Victoria.Once this bill goes through parliament it will surely be only a matter of time before other states follow. Every bit of hard work and sacrifice that you have put into your loving breeds, the search to cure hereditary diseases and the amount of data collated to prevent Hips and Elbow displaysia as well as many other yet genetically known ailments that have been found, through DNA researching by you the Dog World, will be worth nothing.These breeds as well as many others, will end up in the hands of Back yard puppy farmers or worse puppy mills who care absolutely nothing about the health or happiness of the dog, just the dollars they can get for them by the pet stores. I ask you all to act as one and contact as many people who will support us, and will help us to defeat this bill, and is prepared for a lot of hard work.

John Cassar
Kinshasa Rhodesian Ridgeback

1. Animals Legislation (Animal Care) Bill 2007

2. Explanatory memorandum