Do you love animals?

Do you know someone who loves animals?

Then we encourage you to read and sign this important petition.

We, the students and staff in the UWA unit LAWS3316 Law, Advocacy, Activism and Change request your help to ask the Western Australian Government to make important  changes to its Animal Welfare Act 2002 (WA).

In 2019 the Australian Capital Territory became the first jurisdiction in Australia to change its legislation (the Animal Welfare Act 1992 (ACT)) to recognise animals as sentient beings (they can subjectively feel and perceive the world around them). New Zealand and Quebec, Canada, passed similar legislation previously, in 2015.

The ACT Government also amended the aforementioned legislation to state that animals have intrinsic value, should be treated with compassion and people have a duty to care for animals’ physical and mental welfare.

Currently in WA, like in many other jurisdictions, animals are classified as property. A family pet arguably has the same legal status as any non-sentient object in a home e.g. your refrigerator. The amendments to the Animal Welfare Act 2002 (ACT) are an important step for the law to stop thinking of animals like property and start giving them the respect that they deserve.

We ask the WA Government to change its Animal Welfare Act 2002 (WA) to adopt the ACT changes. If it does so, this can:

1.)    Put more obligations upon pet owners;

2.)    Allow for more effective legislative interpretation in animal abuse cases;

3.)    Help WA modernise its culture around animal welfare; and

4.)    Keep up with international standards. 

Thank you for considering our petition. The higher the number of people who sign this petition, the more persuasive our petition will be to the WA Government.

Note: Kate Openshaw drafted the original version of this online petition.