This is from Jan in an email.

I live in Abbey a suburb of Busselton West Australia. I am an avid dog lover with a large backyard and the added advantage of living a block from the beautiful Geographe Bay, which is a dog friendly beach. I have previously had much loved dogs at my home, so consequently my backyard is “dog friendly” and very secure. If I can help out with a short term stay to assist someone getting a rental, I am happy to do so.

Kind regards
Jan Newcombe

If you’re having a problem finding a rental and simply need a bit more time, then you can send an email to Jan at newcombe@westnet.com.au

Thanks again Jan for your generous offer!

“A major opportunity to make a real impact on the vast numbers of kittens that are literally “born to die” has been missed. The Government has done the “hard yards” by bringing in registration but has missed a golden opportunity to strike a major blow for animal welfare.” he says.

While it seems everyone agrees that compulsory de-sexing at point of sale is a must for all but registered breeders, this vitally important point seems to be have been missed by the QLD Government, despite it being provided in calls for feedback about the changes to cat and dog registration laws.

We hope that cat registration simply doesn’t become a fund raising exercise for local government and we agree that their should be incentives for owners who have their cats de-sexed and micro-chipped. It’s just sad that the Government has no doubt missed a huge opportunity to address the kitten crisis and these innocent little ones will pay the ultimate price.

This article talks about the struggle an elderly couple is facing in order to keep their three poodles in an inner-city apartment building in Canberra as the complex’s owners’ corporation is taking them to court this week.

As usual on the topic of living/renting with pets, there has been some heated comments on the article but let’s move past these and get to the facts.

Despite what some people may think about having pets in apartments in Australia, one commenter Marg (an owner at the apartments) nailed it when she talked about the importance of building a community and the often vicious viewpoints of the minority which threatened to create tension and ill will in complex. The worst part about this whole thing is there is not a major incident which started it, no lists of complaints from owners or neighbours. Just the complex owner’s corporation fear about what ‘might’ happen should the dogs be allowed to stay.

The facts about this case

Is there a ‘No Pets’ policy for the apartments? No, an application process exists. Therefore, it is at the Executive committee’s discretion to allow the pets.

Is there a flood of complaints from neighbours, owners? Doesn’t appear so, or at least in wasn’t reported in the article and Marg, one of the owners mentioned that none of the owners have been consulted about this.

Is there overwhelming evidence that the owners are wonderful responsible tenants and have taken every possible step to ensure their pets do not impact others? Yes! The dogs are not a noise nuisance, are toilet trained (artificial turf on the balcony), are walked regularly and a local RSPCA officer even confirmed that the pets environment was great and that the animals were well cared for!

Therefore, I cannot see what the problem is! What issues is this actually causing, apart from “future potential issues” in the minds of the Executive committee?

As we all know, Europe and the US seem to more than cope with pets regularly living in apartments so perhaps in Australia, the problem lies not with the pets themselves, but with owners who are not willing to consider the viability of a more pet friendly living environment in Australia.

It’s time we moved past the FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) regarding living with pets and let’s start focussing on the benefits and how to solve any real issues that do exist.

This time of year is particularly challenging for RSPCA shelters because it’s cat breeding season and the State Government could certainly be doing more.

Michael Beatty from RSPCA QLD had this to say:

“We’ve been lobbying the State Government to make cat de-sexing compulsory but they keep putting it in the “too hard” basket,” continued Mr Beatty. “Every year we get thousands of kittens throughout the State who are literally “born to die. Last year we were forced to euthanase over twelve thousand cats and kittens because of peoples’ basic irresponsibility.”

Let’s hope one of the State Governments New Year’s Resolutions is to give this issue more attention and taking a look at banning pets for sale at pet stores and markets would also be a good idea.

So if you are looking to adopt a kitten, please first ensure you realise the full ramifications and challenges that owning a cat may present and if you’re still keen, then go to RSPCA’s Adopt a Pet website and begin the search as soon as possible.