Lack of pet exercise and companionship could be solved if dogs 'were allowed at the pub'
Australian dogs would be better adjusted and healthier if laws were changed to allow pets into pubs and more public places, an expert says.
PHOTO: Taking your pet everywhere is hard in Australia, Michael Beatty says. (Flickr: havankevin)
La Trobe University study surveyed more than 2,300 Victorians and found 63 per cent of dogs were not walked daily and many pets were left alone for long periods of the day.
RSPCA Queensland spokesman Michael Beatty said compared to overseas, it was hard for Australians to spend time nurturing their pets.
Mr Beatty, who is England-born and has travelled extensively, said animals in Australia were not as much as part of the community as they were elsewhere because our laws were restrictive.
"In England or Scotland or New York [for example] they are always getting exercise because they go everywhere with their owner," he said.
"In Australia they can't go everywhere with their owner, like a pub ... They can in Europe and most parts of America and the UK."
The study's lead researcher Dr Tiffany Howell agreed Australia was restrictive compared to other parts of the world.
She said that only 26 per cent of people took their dog on "an outing" once per day, and 17 per cent did it less than once per week.
"It is a bit concerning that you have 63 per cent of people who don't take their dog out at least every day," Dr Howell told the ABC.
Mr Beatty said a lack of exercise was also due to owners' attitudes and laziness.
"Unfortunately some people seem to think that owning an animals is a right rather than a privilege. With that privilege comes certain responsibility," he said.
The La Trobe University study also found 40 per cent of cats were overweight without their owners realising.
"For some reason in the last couple of years I've seen more obese cats than the previous five years," Mr Beatty said.
He said other common mistakes made by owners were leaving dogs in hot environments.
"Particularly in Queensland and this time of year, it's not just animals being left in hot cars — it's also backyards, particularly if they put them on a chain, they might get entangled and can't reach water or shade and they die," he said.
A lack of training also means dogs end up in shelters.
"They [owners] don't take their dogs to training and when the dog doesn't know how to behave properly they just put it in the too hard basket and end up dumping the animals off with us," he said.
Additionally the research revealed a third of those surveyed had not vaccinated their pet against common diseases.
Pet education important prior to purchase
The research from La Trobe University has formed the basis of the Victorian Government's new Making Victoria Better For Pets campaign.
"Victoria has one of the highest rates of pet ownership in the world," Dr Howell said.
She said two other major findings were that people underestimated the cost of having a pet and how hard it would be to take care of it.
"The data shows 27 per cent of people expected to spend less than $5,000 over the entire life of the dog, another 43 per cent expected to spend between $5,000 and $20,000," Dr Howell said.
"But UK data shows an average dog will cost between $24,000 and $47,000 over the course of its lifetime."
Nearly one-in-five respondents said that taking care of the dog was more difficult than they expected it to be.
"Those two results taken together really suggests there needs to be a lot of education before the owners get animals," Dr Howell said.
Source: ABC News, Kellie Scott, 16th October 2015
Originally published as: Lack of pet exercise and companionship could be solved if dogs 'were allowed at the pub'
