Changes to the ACT's domestic animals legislation

 

As of today, pet owners living in the Canberra will have to microchip their dogs and desex their cats as soon as their pets are three months old. The new pet laws, introduced by the ACT Government, aim to regulate registration, micro-chipping and de-sexing.

 

Territory and Municipal Services Minister John Hargreaves believes that the new laws will bring the ACT in line with Victoria and NSW, and that compulsory micro-chipping will benefit animal services by allowing them to quickly unite lost dogs with their owners.

 

''If all the dogs in town are micro-chipped it means that someone can be notified within 24 hours of the dog's retrieval and they can come and get him or her,'' he said.

 

Anyone with more than three cats will now have to apply for “multiple cat” licences. The new legislation will also force owners to desex their kittens at three months rather than six months. Mr Hargreaves believes that this will prevent litters of unwanted kittens from being dumped.

 

''People will give kittens for Christmas and not for life, and instead of people doing the right thing they abandon the kittens, they set them loose on the highway, stick them in a plastic bag and chuck them in a pond,'' he said. ''We just have far too many kittens euthanased because they just can't find a home.''

 

Dog registration will also change. Previously, dog registration was done annually. Now, dogs will receive a one-off lifetime registration at the cost of $40. Mr Hargreaves  expects that these changes will encourage potential pet owners to seriously think about the responsibility of pet ownership before taking the plunge and buying a real pet. 

 

Michael Linke, President of the RSPCA, welcomes the new laws but believes that there is still more work to be done.

 

''The micro-chipping and identification is a great move but what we need is an awareness campaign so that people don't think that just because they've micro-chipped their pet that's it,'' he said. ''There's a number of other domestic animal companion issues in Canberra; the Government has addressed three small issues and we would hope this isn't the end of it.''

 

Mr Linke said the RSPCA will keep an eye on the number of stray kittens entering shelters over the next couple of years to see if the de-sexing program has any effect.

 

More information about the new laws can be found at http://www.tams.act.gov.au/live/pets/domestic_animal_services

 

Source: Natasha Rudra, Canberra Times, April 2008

 

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Doggy dirt is good for you--as long as you're exposed to it early

 

German scientists have found that early exposure to dogs can reduce the risk of children becoming allergic in later life.

 

After studying 9000 children over a six-year period, researchers came to the conclusion that growing up with a pet in the household trains the immune system to be less sensitive to triggers for allergy-related conditions such as hay fever and asthma.  

 

The findings support the common belief that modern life is too ‘hygienic’, so babies’ immune systems are not introduced to enough germs to develop normally.  Dogs, the study suggests, provide enough dirt of the 'right kind', although it may be important that the baby meets the dog early enough to affect the immune system as it develops.

 

Joachim Heinrich, of the National Research Centre for Environmental Health in Munich, said: "Our results show the presence of a dog in the home during subjects' infancy is associated with a significantly low level of sensitisation to pollens and inhaled allergens.''

 

Dr Heinrich and his fellow researchers say the blood of children raised in homes with dogs contained fewer markers for allergy, such as antibodies to pollen, dustmites, cat and dog dander, and mould spores. Their findings have been published in the European Respitory Journal.

 

Source: Nigel Hawkes, The Australian, April 2008

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Unexpected costs of keeping pets could be the cause of  pet dumping, says UK pet insurance company

At the start of the RSPCA’s Fund Raising Week in the UK, Steve Johnson—Head of Pet Insurance at Sainsbury’s Finance—announced the average cost of keeping a cat or a dog, and it is far higher than most people would expect before buying their pet.

In the last few years, the RSPCA has seen a vast increase in the number of annual animal abandonments, from 5,595 in 2006 to 7,346 in 2007. Sainsbury believes that this 23% increase could be due to the unexpected costs associated with pet ownership, which can escalate to several thousands of pounds over the pet’s lifetime.

"The significant rise in pets being abandoned makes for depressing reading. As the cost of owning a pet steadily increases, it's important that owners and potential purchasers fully appreciate the financial commitment related to owning a cat or dog - this is rising at above the rate of inflation. Costs can also escalate as pets get older as they often need extra medical care and attention,” Mr Johnson said.

Estimated lifetime costs of cats and dogs - from YouGov, (Jan 2007):

Age of pet (yrs)                   Cost of a dog (AUD$)*               Cost of a cat (AUD$)*

3                                    3,336                                                     2,189

5                                    5,861                                                     3,844

7                                    8,655                                                     5,674 

10                                  13,408                                                   8,796

15                                  23,138                                                   15,170

20                                  35,653                                                   23,381

* Costs are approximations after conversion (1 AUD = 0.47 GBP, April 30 2008)

Source: Steve O’Malley, UKPets, April 2008

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A site for sore eyes (and other pet ailments)

 

Most clever ideas seem to appear in the early hours of the morning, and in Brian Hankin’s case it came at 2am on a Sunday morning when his dog woke him up vomiting. The vet was closed, and as Mr Hankin scrambled to find sound information for what to do, he came up with the idea for a comprehensive online resource for pet owners to help them care for their pets.

 

“I discovered that early Sunday morning as I searched online for help that there just wasn't one place with good, reliable information out there," Hankin said. "After I managed to find help for my dog, I knew I needed to change that. And that is what I am confident we have done in creating PetDoc."

 

His newly launched website, www.petdoc.com, is a pet health and care website offering expert advice and helpful tips from PetDoc.com’s team of professionals, who provide content for the sit.

 

The site organises pet-related information by specific breed of cat or dog (although as yet you won’t find every single breed on there), which allows pet owners to find answers specific to the breed of their pet.  It also includes an online forum through which visitors can exchange experiences and advice and chat with other pet owners.

 

Source: Pharma Business Week, April 2008