NSW animal welfare laws should recognise the sentience of animals and ensure their opportunity to enjoy life, a Greens MP says.
Amendments to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act introduced to the upper house by Abigail Boyd this week would require people to go further in ensuring animals are not treated cruelly, shifting the focus from avoiding cruelty to promoting enjoyment.
Objectives of the current laws are to prevent cruelty to animals and require responsible people to provide care, treat animals humanely and ensure their welfare.
An amended act would recognise animals' ability to feel and perceive the world around them, their intrinsic value and right to have a quality of life which reflects that, and opportunities to "experience positive states of comfort, interest or pleasure".
It would also expand the definition of "pain" beyond suffering or distress to include physical, mental or emotional distress. New definitions would be added for "cruelty" and "sentience" as well.
People responsible for an animal's welfare would have to follow "best practice" including ensuring their physical, emotional and mental needs are met "in a way that conforms with contemporary scientific knowledge".
"The science on animal sentience has been settled for decades, but NSW's animal welfare laws are stuck in the past," Ms Boyd said.
Similar laws in the ACT and overseas recognise animal sentience while Victoria is considering it, Ms Boyd told parliament on Wednesday.
A recently signed trade agreement between the UK and Australia also recognises animals as sentient beings, she added.
"Any horse trainer, cattle farmer, or pet owner will tell you that every animal is unique," Ms Boyd said.
"Our laws are built on a fiction that animals aren't sentient. Until we remedy that, we can't have a sensible discussion about the ways we use animals or the standards we hold animal industries to."
Agriculture Minister Dugald Saunders told AAP on Friday the government is reviewing the June interim report of a parliamentary committee examining a draft of a separate animal welfare bill.
He said the current laws Ms Boyd is seeking to amend already provide strong and robust protections for animals' care and treatment.
"These laws are strictly enforced by the NSW Government and delegated animal welfare enforcement agencies," Mr Saunders said.
Australian Associated Press
