Animal Welfare (Live Baiting) Amendment Bill 2015
27 May 2015
The Animal Law Institute is a not for profit community legal centre that is dedicated to
protecting animals and advocating for their interests through the Australian legal system.
27 May 2015
Tammy Franks MLC
Parliament House
North Terrace
Adelaide SA 5000
By Email: [email protected]
Dear Ms Franks,
SUBMISSION IN RELATION TO THE ANIMAL WELFARE (LIVE BAITING) AMENDMENT
BILL 2015
1.
The Animal Law Institute (ALI) is pleased to provide feedback on the Animal Welfare
(Live Baiting) Amendment Bill 2015 (Bill).
2.
ALI supports the introduction of the Bill into parliament on the basis that it introduces
much needed changes to the Animal Welfare Act 1985 (SA) (Act). If passed, the Bill
will introduce positive animal protection measures to the South Australian greyhound
racing industry.
3.
ALI commends the introduction of the Bill. It is a positive step towards increasing
penalties for the offences of organised animal fights; live baiting; releasing an animal
from captivity for the purpose of being hunted or killed; and selling, supplying,
keeping or preparing an animal for such activities.
4.
As evidenced in the Four Corners exposé on live baiting in the greyhound industry in
early 2015, the use of live baiting in greyhound training is widespread in the industry
on a national scale and causes severe cruelty to animals. Although no investigations
have been carried out in South Australia, the evidence in other states and territories
has shown that the use of live baiting as a training technique is endemic within the
industry and widespread. On this basis, it is a fair inference to say that live baiting
would occur in South Australia.
5.
For this reason, ALI supports any proposed legislative amendments to further
criminalise live baiting and regulate the greyhound racing industry to ensure
individuals are deterred from engaging in the activity and are appropriately punished
1
when it is detected, and that the community is protected from animal cruelty. The Bill
goes towards achieving this objective by introducing new offences surrounding live
baiting.
6.
ALI has reviewed the Bill and makes the following suggestions for improvement.
Prohibited activities
7.
Section 5 of the Bill creates a new section 14 in the Act, which sets out what are
prohibited activities. Subsection (6) defines what amounts to a person taking part in
a prohibited activity, being that the person does 1 or more of the following:
(a)
organises the prohibited activity;
(b)
promotes the prohibited activity;
(c)
allows the prohibited activity to occur on premises, or in a place, owned or
occupied by him or her;
(d)
knowingly provides an animal or other thing used, or intended for use, in
relation to the prohibited activity;
(e)
undertakes, without lawful excuse, any other activity relating to the
prohibited activity.
8.
While the section sets out a number of circumstances whereby a person’s
involvement in a prohibited activity is recognised, it seems to have left out the
scenario where a person actually carries out a prohibited activity. The “doing” of a
prohibited activity needs to be stated in subsection (6) along with activities coinciding
with a prohibited activity.
Penalties for prohibited activities
9.
ALI commends the increased financial penalties for organised animal prohibited
activities in the proposed amended section 14 of the Act.
10. The maximum financial penalty for taking part in a prohibited activity has been increased
from $20,000 to $50,000. ALI submits that the increase of the maximum imprisonment
penalty for taking part in a prohibited activity to 4 years is a progressive amendment that
reflects current community attitudes towards sentencing of animal cruelty offences.
2
Possession of certain items prohibited
11.
Section 5 of the Bill creates a new section 14A, which prohibits possession of certain
items. Subsection (1) states that “a person must not, without the approval of the
Minister, have in his or her possession or control” various items.
12.
ALI notes that there are other occasions in the Act where Minister approval is stated
as an exception including the current section 14(3), which is similar to the new
section 14A.
13.
Irrespective of the prior use of Minister approval, ALI questions what circumstance
would arise where it would ever be appropriate for such items to be in a person’s
possession. For example, as cock-fighting would be deemed a prohibited activity,
being that it is an organised animal fight, possession of a cock-fighting spur should at
all times be an offence. ALI cannot envisage a scenario whereby a Minister could
rightly approve the use of a cock-fighting spur.
Holistic response
14.
ALI notes that the Bill is reactive in that it proposes additional legal penalties to those
involved in live baiting.
15.
ALI stresses that the problems inherent in the greyhound breeding and racing
industry are not limited to live baiting, but rather are more systemic and include high
euthanasia rates and a cycle of over-breeding. For this reason, ALI submits that a
holistic set of legislative changes are necessary to ensure that effective enforcement
measures are available against people who engage not only in live baiting, but also
for example, the over-breeding of greyhounds and high euthanasia rates.
Enforcement
16.
ALI recognises that one of the biggest issues in animal use industries in all states
and territories of Australia, including South Australia, is the fact that these industries
are largely self-regulated. This creates a number of problems in terms of effective
enforcement, including the increased difficulties in policing those involved in the
industries and ensuring enforcement of the laws and regulations occurs.
17.
Organised animal fights and live baiting have been illegal in all states and territories
in Australia for a number of years, but as was seen in the 2015 greyhound industry
3
live baiting exposé, live baiting was taking place largely due to a lack of appropriate
policing within the industry and enforcement of the laws.
18.
We therefore submit that the success of the Bill will similarly depend on whether
policing and enforcement of the proposed legislative changes is appropriately carried
out. In order for this to occur, authorised inspectors under the Act need to be given
appropriate powers to inspect racing and other facilities to ensure organised animal
fights and live baiting are not occurring. To ensure adequate enforcement, these
powers must include the power to attend and enter premises without prior notice.
19.
In addition, strict enforcement of penalties when breaches are detected would
additionally assist in ensuring that organised animal fights and live baiting does not
occur in South Australian animal use industries.
20.
ALI strongly believes that regular and effective enforcement is crucial to ensuring the
purposes of the Bill are achieved. This, in addition to the added deterrence by the
increased offences and penalties set out in the Bill, would effectively reduce the
likelihood of organised animal fights and live baiting taking place in South Australia.
21.
ALI re-iterates its support for the Bill and commends the Minister for Sustainability,
Environment and Conservation on the introduction of the Bill into parliament. We
respectfully submit that the purposes of the Bill would be better achieved if the
additional recommendations outlined above are also implemented.
Yours sincerely
The Animal Law Institute Inc.
4