RSPCA welcomes Liberal policy focus on animal welfare

The RSPCA has today welcomed the announcement that a re-elected Liberal Party will commit additional funding to support its vital animal protection work.

The Liberal Party has pledged to increase funding for the state-wide animal protection and enforcement services performed by RSPCA Tasmania’s Animal Cruelty Inspectorate.

Jan Davis, RSPCA Chief Advocate, said “This announcement marks the first ongoing funding increase many years, and will assist us to meet community expectations, as demand for our services increases.”

The policy statement also includes commitments to other initiatives which reflect the importance of animal welfare within the community.

“Today’s environment is an incredibly challenging one and we know that keeping people together with their pets in times of stress is one of the most important ways of managing difficult situations. That’s what our Safe Beds program is all about. Increased funding for this program will help to provide certainty and security to the service and enable us to support more people and their furry friends when they face unexpected challenges,” Ms Davis said.

The policy also commits a re-elected state government to introducing mandatory video surveillance in all Tasmanian abattoirs. This would make Tasmanian the first state to introduce this requirement.

The recent announcement that a re-elected state government would change rental laws to make it easier for families with pets to find new homes is also most welcome.

“We know that animals are central to people’s lives and their wellbeing. These commitments reflect much-needed and long-overdue progress to improving animal welfare outcomes,” Ms Davis said.

“The vast majority of Tasmanians say animal welfare is important, or extremely important, to them. While the RSPCA will continue to rely on the community for most of the funding needed to carry out our work, we are incredibly grateful to have these pledges of support which will enable us to expand our services to help more animals in need.”