Leaving a Dog Unattended should be Made an Offence

This petition draws to the attention of all governments:

The huge and growing number of dogs kept in the suburban environment;

That most 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 usually in contravention of barking control laws now so commonly left almost entirely unenforced by reckless animal control authorities having regulatory powers but refusing to use them.

Your Petitioners therefore ask all governments to:

Create the Dog Control Act offence "Leaving a Dog Unattended to its ongoing distress" 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..."