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Animal welfare reform- please read.


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I have emailed and crossposted this... anyone who wishes to send an email to the minister I will love forever...

Dear All,

I do not know many of you are interested in this, nor do I care :). Please look at the email I am planning to send to the QLD Minister and write one yourself to him (copy mine if you think it's any good), or to other ministers in other states. I am in kickass animal defender mode and my aim is to try to get as many people to think about the recent spate of kitten torture attacks in australia (that is, the ones that have made it to the media), the latest being in QLD, hence why I am writing to him instead of the Vic minister, and campaign for legislative reform. If you like (I didn't touch on these issues) in your own replies (please send them!!) crap on about juvenile offenders getting off easy because of their age, the importance of desexing your pets, etc etc. Even something short and concise would be appreciated for those of you in foreign lands. Oh and pass it on to your friends... please. We all did it a couple of years ago with the loophole as regards eating dog and c@t in Vic- that legislation has been turned over- and all because of emails and community outrage. Same thing for the kitten-torturing soldiers last year- the police appealed against the leniency of the sentence on strength of us mad as hell human beings. We can turn this around if we try.
I would be extremely grateful if at least you took the time to look at the email I sent this guy and and think about those poor animals who do not have the wherewithal to fight against any damage inflicted upon them. When I am a hotshot lawyer I might have more sway or at least more ideas on what to do, but for now as a student I am doing my best to get people thinking about these issues. It is hard when there is so much other sh*t going on in the world to get annoyed about, but this is my thing and possibly my career. Humour me.

Jane.


The guy's name is Henry Palaszczuk and his dept is the dept of primary industries. email is [email][email protected][/email]
For nerds like yours truly, the legislation can be checked out here: [url]http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/animalwelfare/[/url]


Dear Minister,

I write to you as a very concerned citizen in relation to the latest publicised animal cruelty offences in Rockhampton. I presume you are aware of the details, but I shall recant them for you briefly. Five kittens were garroted and dumped in a sack near an op shop. Four were dead and the fifth had to be euthanased. This cowardly act is but the latest in a series of widely publicised attacks on kittens, which began two weeks ago with the stoning and kicking of an eight-week old kitten at a Sydney railway station. It is feared the following barbaric acts were, and I do not mean to pun, "copycats". The perpetrators of the animal cruelty have so far been teenagers.

As your Department covers animal welfare, I have no doubt you are aware that there are proven links between cruelty to animals as a young person, and later cruelty towards humans. This is one of the reasons I ask you to push for legislative reform as regards the Animal Care and Protection Act 2001 (Qld). Section 18 of the Act sets out the *maximum* penalty as 1000 penalty units or 2 years imprisonment. This is pitiable and I am willing to bet, if I were to research the court history of animal welfare charges against convictions, and later the actual punishment meted out, such punishment would amount to less than the proverbial slap on the wrist. You will recall the torture of kittens by Australian soldiers in your State last year, and how their relatively light punishment has set a terrible precedent regarding animal cruelty.

Section 182 (1) states that the court *may* order the disposal or forfeiture of any other animal the persons convicted of an animal welfare offence owns, the animal that was the subject of the offence, or anything the court considers is likely to be used in committing a further animal welfare offence. The use of the word "may" gives too much leeway to the offenders. I suggest this is replaced with the word "must", which logically can be interpreted as the court having no alternative but to order the forfeiture of the animal or animals of the convicted person.

Section 183 states that again, the court *may* order the person convicted to be prohibited from buying or acquiring another animal. Again, I suggest changing "may" to "must", in order to achieve the same objective.

Section 185 gives the court leeway for mitigating factors to this already very tenuously worded legislation. I suggest that there be no option for broad interpretation as regards disposal or prohibition orders. Any animal welfare offence serious enough to even make it to court should not have anything like ss 185 (2) (a-d) as having being needed to take into consideration for these orders.

Section 187 as regards punishment to a person contravening a prohibition order is also laughable.

Section 188 (Review of certain prohibition orders) should be abolished. In my opinion anyone that has been convicted of an animal cruelty offence should never be allowed to own an animal again.

I am well aware that there are issues which could be regarded as much more serious and immediate to human society that may be taking up your valuable time, but I beg you to seriously consider legislative change. Take some time to visit the victims of animal cruelty at the numerous animal shelters scattered across Queensland. Those who have no voice cannot speak, and it is up to us to speak for them.

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I will send this if you like, but I wait for your permission.

Dear Minister,

the author of this email asked some of us to both read it and comment, and send emails of our own about this situation. I re'send it to remind you of its content...

"Dear Minister,

I write to you as a very concerned citizen in relation to the latest publicised animal cruelty offences in Rockhampton. I presume you are aware of the details, but I shall recant them for you briefly. Five kittens were garroted and dumped in a sack near an op shop. Four were dead and the fifth had to be euthanased. This cowardly act is but the latest in a series of widely publicised attacks on kittens, which began two weeks ago with the stoning and kicking of an eight-week old kitten at a Sydney railway station. It is feared the following barbaric acts were, and I do not mean to pun, "copycats". The perpetrators of the animal cruelty have so far been teenagers.

As your Department covers animal welfare, I have no doubt you are aware that there are proven links between cruelty to animals as a young person, and later cruelty towards humans. This is one of the reasons I ask you to push for legislative reform as regards the Animal Care and Protection Act 2001 (Qld). Section 18 of the Act sets out the *maximum* penalty as 1000 penalty units or 2 years imprisonment. This is pitiable and I am willing to bet, if I were to research the court history of animal welfare charges against convictions, and later the actual punishment meted out, such punishment would amount to less than the proverbial slap on the wrist. You will recall the torture of kittens by Australian soldiers in your State last year, and how their relatively light punishment has set a terrible precedent regarding animal cruelty.

Section 182 (1) states that the court *may* order the disposal or forfeiture of any other animal the persons convicted of an animal welfare offence owns, the animal that was the subject of the offence, or anything the court considers is likely to be used in committing a further animal welfare offence. The use of the word "may" gives too much leeway to the offenders. I suggest this is replaced with the word "must", which logically can be interpreted as the court having no alternative but to order the forfeiture of the animal or animals of the convicted person.

Section 183 states that again, the court *may* order the person convicted to be prohibited from buying or acquiring another animal. Again, I suggest changing "may" to "must", in order to achieve the same objective.

Section 185 gives the court leeway for mitigating factors to this already very tenuously worded legislation. I suggest that there be no option for broad interpretation as regards disposal or prohibition orders. Any animal welfare offence serious enough to even make it to court should not have anything like ss 185 (2) (a-d) as having being needed to take into consideration for these orders.

Section 187 as regards punishment to a person contravening a prohibition order is also laughable.

Section 188 (Review of certain prohibition orders) should be abolished. In my opinion anyone that has been convicted of an animal cruelty offence should never be allowed to own an animal again.

I am well aware that there are issues which could be regarded as much more serious and immediate to human society that may be taking up your valuable time, but I beg you to seriously consider legislative change. Take some time to visit the victims of animal cruelty at the numerous animal shelters scattered across Queensland. Those who have no voice cannot speak, and it is up to us to speak for them.
_________________
"Justice is the banner under which all Australians should walk. Justice for all good people. Not just for the rich, the popular or the majority. Justice for all." --Justice Michael Kirby"

THIS is the part I wish to make comment on:

"As your Department covers animal welfare, I have no doubt you are aware that there are proven links between cruelty to animals as a young person, and later cruelty towards humans. "

I am not an Australian Citizen, but I can give you the names of two extremely famous U.S. serial killers, who fit this scenario to a "T"...


John Wayne Gacy and Jeffrey Dahmer.

They both started their "Serial Killer Careers" abusing animals. John Wayne Gacy was found to have sexually abused and murdered over 30
young boys, and Jeffrey Dahmer was a serial killer, sexual deviant, and
a cannibal.....

Perhaps more stress should be put on these issues than currently is...there is definitely a link between animal abuse in young people, and later abuse as adults. It's not just the animals to people like this...

Please consider amending your laws. These people can be stopped, if everyone is willing to do so.

Katy Courtney
Chicago, IL
USA

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