Here’s a win for animal welfare advocates. The act of killing shelter animals is now considered a crime in New South Wales.
In February 2022, both houses of parliament in NSW passed into law a bill banning the convenience killing of animals. The new legislation comes after dogs and puppies were shot by Bourke Shire Council last year even as two rescue organisations offered rehoming for the animals.
The council said that they didn’t want rescuers to travel to collect the dogs in light of the state-declared COVID-19 lockdown. RSPCA, the NSW Ombudsman and Office of Local Government conducted an investigation on the incident, however, they cleared the council of any liability since there were no laws in place at the time that would make them accountable for such actions.
Animal Justice Party MP Emma Hurst who put forward the legislation, Companion Animals Amendment (Rehoming Animals) Bill 2021, said that the shooting of the dogs should not have happened but existing laws are weak leaving the “atrocity” unpunished.
Ms Hurst added that the law aims to stop “unnecessary killing” of animals for the sake of convenience, which the community will never accept, and mandates pounds to work with rescue groups in finding them homes. Under the new law, councils are required to give written notice to at least two rehoming organisations and advertise the animal as available prior to euthanising.
Independent Alex Greenwich, who carried the bill to the lower house, congratulated Ms Hurst on her legislation and said that the passing of the bill was a sign of respect for the crossbench legislator.
Each year, some 200,000 shelter animals across Australia are euthanised in animal shelters and between 2019 and 2020, there have been about 4,00 dogs and 8,000 cats killed in NSW pounds.