Animal welfare groups in Queensland were today celebrating Gold Coast City Council’s rollout of their breeder permit scheme.
It even got an editorial from the Gold Coast Bulletin;
The move to introduce the desexing of cats and dogs on the Gold Coast ‘by stealth’ is a law to be applauded.
Critics of the Gold Coast City Council’s proposed change to require pet owners to have a licence to breed from their animals say it is a sneaky way to introduce mandatory desexing and that it will mean more costs. So be it.
The sad fact is that each year hundreds of unwanted cats and dogs are put down on the Coast — last year more than 1400 were destroyed.
So while the council has given in, to pressure of animal welfare groups who have determined that an animal with reproductive organs is a threat worthy of the strongest legislative direction;
We commend the Gold Coast City Council on this initiative and trust that once passed, the policing of the law’s requirements will be carried out with vigilance.
This law will be a toothless tiger without those who flaunt it being prosecuted.
What are the facts behind the emotion?
According to the latest available figures, the Gold Coast City Council has 55,000 registered cats and 55,000 registered dogs. That’s 110,000 owned pets.
The “1,400 pets destroyed” quoted in the editorial is just 1.2% of the pet population being killed in shelters. In a state where ‘pit bulls’ can’t be rehomed. And feral cats can’t be released.
Will this expensive initiative (how expensive? well the 2008 trial cost $380,000), bring down this number? Likely not much.
But it will certainly allow the Gold Coast Council more powers to seize the pets of disadvantaged owners if they can’t afford desexing, and the unrestricted ability to seize unowned and semi-owned cats… driving up intakes and shelter killing…
…. hang on…
See also: Should there be a ‘breeder permit’ system?
See also: Gold Coast City Council drives Australia’s largest dog cull
