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Majority of Australians want proactive laws to protect animals
A survey conducted by the University of Adelaide found that a majority of Australians wanted a proactive approach to animal welfare.
Abhranil Hazra
The survey found 80 per cent of respondents supported increasing prosecution numbers and 50 per cent wanted harsher penalties.
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The study surveyed 2,152 individuals nationwide and was led by Dr Alexandra Whittaker and PhD student Rochelle Morton from the University of Adelaide’s School of Animal and Veterinary Science.
“We found that the vast majority of respondents are in favour of prohibiting offenders from owning animals,” said study lead, Ms Morton.
The survey is the latest in research that shows an increase in public demanding action on animal welfare. A survey in 2009 showed that 60 per cent of Australians want harsher penalties for animal cruelty.
Ms Morton believes that whilst this shift in community expectation will shape future legislation on animal welfare, more research on this topic needs to be done.
“There has been no publicly available information disclosing the nature of these ‘expectations’, or the methodology used to determine the public’s stance.
“The nature of reform to animal welfare legislation in Australia has commonly been attributed to increasing alignment with the ‘community’s expectations’, which implies that the community has power in driving legislative change,” she said.
Dr Whittaker believes that this recent study indicates the public favour an increase in the number of cases heading to court rather than harsher punishments such as jail sentences or larger fines.
“This study suggests that there is greater support for preventing animal cruelty through increased enforcement rather than punishing animal cruelty offenders through harsher sentences,” Dr Whittaker said.
“This potentially indicates a shift in public opinion towards a more proactive approach to animal welfare law enforcement, rather than a reactive approach to animal cruelty.”
Currently, the RSPCA has successfully prosecuted 426 of animal cruelty in Australia’s courts, with penalties for animal cruelty across all states having provisions for jail terms and fines.
The jail terms and fines vary from state to state, from one year prison in Northern Territory to five years in Western Australia and Tasmania.
Fines range from $15,700 in the Northern Territory and $287,500 in Queensland, with corporations culpable of paying more than a million dollars depending on the jurisdiction.
