The Canberra Liberals are pleased to see Steve Doszpot’s bill passed in the Assembly today, Leader of the Opposition Alistair Coe said.
"Steve worked tirelessly to provide the community with stronger protections against dangerous dogs," Mr Coe said. "He led the Canberra Liberals’ dog laws and if not for his persistence we would not have debated and passed these laws today. "While I welcome the steps taken today to reform our dog laws, I am disappointed that the Government still wants to put dangerous dogs back into the community.
"I am disappointed that the Government watered down some of our measures with 11th hour amendments.
"In the Canberra Liberals bill, a dog must be seized and impounded during an investigation into complaints of injury, serious injury or death of a person. In cases where it is found that a dog has attacked, causing the serious injury or death of a person, the Registrar must destroy the dog.
"The Government’s amendments provide too much discretionary power to the Registrar. "For example, the Registrar may choose to approve a license for a dog even if it is known to ‘pose an unacceptable risk to the safety of the public’. "This is a major point of difference between our bill and the Government’s amendments. "However, the bill is a step forward. Thank you to everyone who contacted our offices," Mr Coe concluded.
