New laws requiring pet owners selling or giving away their pet dogs or cats to provide more information to the new owners have come into effect.
Announcing the changes, Minister for Agriculture, Adam Marshall said they would improve animal welfare outcomes and give adopting families more information about where their pet was coming from.
Mr Marshall said people selling or giving away cats or dogs now needed to include an identification number in all advertisements, providing prospective pet owners with more confidence they were purchasing from a reputable breeder.
“Welcoming a new pet into the family is an exciting time and we want to ensure we’re protecting the welfare of cats and dogs through this process,” Mr Marshall said.
“It will also promote responsible cat and dog breeding and selling by allowing relevant Agencies to identify and deal with problem breeders.”
He said the identification number could be either a microchip number, a breeder identification number or a rehoming organisation number.
“The changes are supported by the new and improved NSW Pet Registry, a database of microchipped and registered cats and dogs that live in NSW,” Mr Marshall said.
Minister for Local Government, Shelley Hancock said the pet registry was an important tool that allowed pet owners to easily register their cat or dog, update contact details, report their pet missing, transfer ownership and pay the one-off registration fee.
More information about the new requirement can be accessed on the NSW Department of Primary Industries website at this PS News link.
