In a world that is ever changing, with new restrictions and new laws, where is the education to ensure everyone can be compliant? Where is the education on basic responsible pet ownership?
The average person going out to buy their next animal, isn’t always buying from a reputable breeder who will be there for the life of that animal to offer support and advice, so where are they getting this advice to ensure people, have the right information to meet the needs of their animals? Dr Google perhaps?
Why are there no education programs for the public on owning animals? How does the general person know who to turn to when they need help e.g., training? Probably a Facebook community page.
Instead of the government continuously going after the registered and responsible breeders and dictating numbers that apparently equate to the welfare of animals, they need to put that time and effort into educating people on the rights and wrongs of pet ownership. This may go a long way to seeing a reduction in the number of animals in shelters and pounds and those that think breeding equals money.
When purchasing an animal from a shelter or pound where is the after care and education? The average shelter may enquire about the home environment and food etc. but what about when you walk out of those gates? Is there a number you can call when you need help?
We saw this during the covid lockdowns when shelters were adopting out animals in record numbers, there was no support, no ongoing training for those animals that probably required it, so the majority ended up back in the shelters But, if there was that ongoing educational opportunity then there may have been a chance that those numbers would have greatly reduced.
I know this is an issue with lots of species not just dogs, if you go to a pet shop as an example to buy a fish or a rabbit you would hope those people whose job it is to sell that animal would know all of the requirements and provide the right advice? But there is no requirement of minimum education for these people and no rule that says they have to be trained. Again we see it time in and time out with people on forums provided with the wrong information that puts the welfare of the animals at risk. This could be easily solved with mandated education requirements, and yet again the government isn’t interested in this. They stay focused on the push to end the sales on animals.
Gone are the days where you could say you knew someone who had a “Whoops” litter with their dogs and they were going to sell the puppies for $100 to cover vet work or the pups were going to family members. Today a lot see breeding as a business. They see buying two dogs and breeding them as a money making scheme. But what happens when it all goes wrong and their bitch needs an emergency C -section in the middle of the night, or the puppies don’t want to latch and you are bottle feeding, and then come 8 weeks you can’t sell your puppies that you have priced at $6000 because they are a “unique color”? Where is the education to show the average person that breeding isn’t about money and that it’s about preservation. Yes there will always be that “whoops” litter but 99% currently are not that. Where is the education to show them how hard it can be? Yes a lot of the time it is smooth sailing but sometimes it isn’t — would this change their minds about adding extra dogs to the population?
We need to ensure that everyone has access to education and courses and this is where government funding should be going. Not on expensive census’s that end up asking you how many times you groom your fish! It needs to go to ensuring people have access to information and resources and that they are set up for success. We have discounted desexing why don’t we have discount training?
Governments don’t even try to help industry itself with changes and compliance.
As an industry any changes to codes are not communicated by the government, as it is an expectation that we constantly go and look at these documents to ensure compliance. That may be good when the documents are easy to find, but how hard can it be to send communications to industry groups to ensure everyone is aware and can adjust as required?
It seems we need to educate the government on how to educate the public!
By: Kylie Gilbert – Animal Care Australia Dog Representative. Originally published: September 2023 ACE Newsletter.
