Minns government to establish Office of Animal Welfare
Abandoned cats and dogs will be big winners from this year’s budget with the Minns government setting aside more than $16 million to deliver on an election promise for poorly-treated pets. Here’s what we know.
NSW
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Abandoned cats and dogs will be big winners from this year’s budget with the Minns government setting aside more than $16 million to deliver on an election promise for poorly-treated pets.
The Saturday Telegraph can reveal $16.7m has been allocated to establish an Office of Animal Welfare and to fund compliance activities carried out by the RSPCA and Animal Welfare League.
The Office will play an oversight role to check how the RSPCA and Welfare League spend their taxpayer funds on investigating animal cruelty offences.
A team will work to ensure the organisations carry out property inspections and initiate prosecutions to bring bad animal owners to justice.
It is understood about $11m of the funding will go towards the RSCPA, $1m to the Welfare League and the remaining $4m will get the office up and running, based on similar spending in last year’s budget.
The Minister responsible for animal welfare, Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty, said cracking down on the recent puppy farming ban will be a top priority for the new Office.
It comes after new laws passed in November last year introduced a slew of measures to stamp out animal cruelty in the breeding industry, including a lifetime breeding limit of five litters for female dogs.
“We are at the pointy end of the work to set up the Office and we are just having some final discussions with stakeholders,” Ms Moriarty said
“The Office will advise me on policy and how the government’s recent banning of puppy farms is progressing during its implementation. So, stay tuned.”
The funding comes after the Minns government promised before the 2023 election that it would establish an Office of Animal Welfare to advise and consult.
Animal Welfare League NSW chief executive officer Stephen Albin said the organisation was working closely with the government to prevent and act on reports of animal cruelty.
“We are currently experiencing high demand for our services, particularly across metropolitan Sydney,” Mr Albin said.
“With government funding support we have opened an inspectorate in Bega, and we will soon open an office in Orange where an inspector will be based to manage reports of cruelty in the Central West.”
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Originally published as Minns government to establish Office of Animal Welfare
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