By JESSE GRAHAM
CONTROVERSIAL new laws for restricted dog breeds will be debated in Parliament this week and a local animal worker is concerned about the threat to owners.
An amendment to the Domestic Animals Bill will be decided on and voted for on Thursday in the Victorian Parliament, which could see the onus of proof shift from the council to dog owners.
Currently, a dog must be proved to be a restricted breed by council before further action can be taken.
Under the new laws, owners will have to have evidence on-hand to prove a suspected dog is not a restricted breed, rather than the council establishing proof.
The passage concerning the onus of proof, which is on page 26 of the 38-page amendment, reads:
“If a declaration is made … to the effect that a dog is a restricted breed dog, then … it is presumed, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, that the dog is a restricted breed dog.”
The amendment has the condition that an authorised officer has completed a training course that would give them the ability to make such declarations.
Animal Aid spokesperson Debra Boland said that the change to the onus of proof would make it hard for owners of similar-looking dogs to prove their animals were not a restricted breed, such as a pit-bull terrier.
She said this was hard for people who may have rescued abandoned dogs or received dogs from other people and don’t have breeding documentation.
“If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, we have to call it a duck,” she said.
“You can have an educated guess, but that’s all it is at the end of the day.”
Evelyn MP Christine Fyffe welcomed the amendment and said that the new laws will help to protect vulnerable members of the community from dog attacks.
However, Ms Boland expressed concern at the breed-specific legislation and said that, although laws to protect the community were important, other countries passing similar legislation resulted in no reduction in dog attacks.
“Even if we killed all the pit bulls tomorrow, I’d be very surprised if it had any impact on the amount of bite incidents,” she said.
The amendment comes from the coronial recommendations, following the death of four-year-old Ayen Chol, who was mauled by a dog.
There are a number of other changes within the bill amendment, such as the ability for people caught breeding restricted dogs to be jailed for six months.
