Noxious Barking

The petition of the undersigned residents of Tasmania draws to the attention of the House: The huge and growing number of dogs kept in the Tasmanian suburban environment; The estimation that there are 35% more dogs here, per caput, than in mainland Australia; That most of Tasmania's dogs are kept in the suburbs under conditions of close confinement; That the suburbs comprise a totally unnatural environment for an animal congenitally programmed to free-range; That innumerable confined backyard dogs are left unattended by their owners because of work commitments, especially during the daytime; That many of these dogs bark intermittently or continuously because of their boredom, frustration, confinement and deprivation of animal and human contact; That such extended isolation to a dog, a social animal by nature, can be torture; That the dog commonly vents its frustration, anguish and torment by whining, howling and loud continuous barking; and That such barking is increasingly noxious to nearby humans, is often damaging to their health, and is contravention of s46 of the Dog Control Act 2000 now so commonly left almost entirely unenforced. Your Petitioners therefore ask the House to: Create the Dog Control Act offence "Leaving a Dog Unattended"; and Compel enforcement by authorised persons with the words: "It is the obligation of any person on whom a function is imposed or a power is conferred under this Act to perform the function or to exercise the power..."