New cruelty laws to crack down on pets being left in hot cars
CALLOUS pet owners face fines of up to $250,000 for leaving their dogs to suffer in hot cars, under new animal cruelty laws slated by the State Opposition. But things could get even more heated for the worst offenders.
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CALLOUS pet owners face fines of up to $250,000, or jail time, for leaving their dogs to suffer while trapped in hot cars, under new animal cruelty laws slated by the State Opposition.
RSPCA inspectors would also wield more power to bust dog- and cock-fighting rings, under planned reforms to make it an offence to be caught with equipment used in illegal fights.
The LNP will today unveil its pledge to shake up the outdated Animal Care and Protection Act if elected at the next election.
For the first time, it would be a specific offence to leave pets locked in hot cars, with the RSPCA saying the change would prevent pets from being left to die a “horrific death”.
The reforms aim to slash the hundreds of calls to the RSPCA each year reporting distressed animals in hot cars and make prosecution of their owners easier.
More than 1000 distress calls about animals, mostly dogs, left in cars are received by the RSPCA each year. This ties up police resources when officers are called to free them.
The shake-up comes amid rising concern about Queensland’s animal cruelty record after the state scored top place for animal cruelty complaints in 2017.
Queensland also has one of the lowest rates of animal cruelty prosecutions.
RSPCA prosecutions officer Tracey Jackson said to prosecute, inspectors currently had to prove the dog had been left in “inappropriate living conditions” or was being treated cruelly.
“The way heat stress works is, your dog starts to cook from the inside out,” she said. “We’ve had quite a few cases where animals have been found dead. Once they’ve heated to a certain temperature, they are unable to cool themselves again and the damage has been done, and that’s when they go into organ failure.
“It’s a horrific way for them to die.
“We are not saying we can’t prosecute at the moment, it just needs to be clearer to the general community that it is unlawful and easy to enforce.”
LNP leader Deb Frecklington said making it a specific offence to leave a dog trapped in a hot car would make it easier to take callous pet owners to court.
She has called on the Palaszczuk Government to support the changes.
“We don’t have the numbers in Parliament so we would happily work with the Government, back the RSPCA, and make these important changes a reality,” she said. “Tragically, it can take just six minutes for a dog to die in a hot vehicle.
“Some of these poor animals are rescued in time, but tragically, some aren’t.
“Owners often escape any punishment, but it’s time they answered for their actions.”
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