Drs Peter Harlow from Taronga and Glenn Shea from Sydney Uni met with the Minister in January this year, to express their concerns about the contemptuous way in which the advice of the EAG was treated by NPWS (DoEH) during the development of this Code of Practice, and were assured that she would look into getting some sort of "collaborative" satisfactory outcome. There was utter silence from her until the crowing started about the great breakthrough of herps being sold in petshops, along with the sting in the tail - the legal enforcement of new rules for reptile keepers. She relies on advice from her bureaucrats, and apparently listens to noone else, even two of the most experienced and well respected herp people, not just in Oz, but the world.
The Department (like most wildlife authorities across the country) has missed out on a great chance to be seen to work collaboratively with reptile keepers to ensure good outcomes for reptile pets in NSW, and has relied on the sledgehammer approach - bugger the PR consequences for the department and keepers. They continually alienate keepers - the very people who can help them in their work, because they have the "power." The fact that a better, more trusting relationship between keepers and NPWS operatives would benefit all, including our reptile charges, simply escapes them. Of course it will lead to more secrecy and covert activity with keepers, because that's exactly how the Department operated to get this thing installed into law. However, the bureaucrat pushing this barrow for NPWS has now left and is working for the RSPCA, which probably says something in itself...
Of course, there were already perfectly useful avenues for charges of cruelty to any animal to be successfully prosecuted in the courts, but this was an idealogical pursuit driven by a couple of individuals who decided that things need to change.
OEH is currently undergoing a major restructure, with the loss of a significant number of jobs, so the appointment of 15 new inspectors sounds far-fetched to me. They barely have the resources to do the basics now...
I know that, should any prosecution under the new regs seem unreasonable to members of the EAG, that a number of them have pledged to appear in court in support of the person unreasonably charged, so in that event, it could be an interesting time for keepers...
Having said all that about the PRINCIPLE of our treatment at the hands of just a couple of government bureaucrats, I have to say that keepers in NSW are still in a far better position that those in WA, where fear of punishment still reigns supreme. I have, in the course of my day-to-day activities, some contact with NSW NPWS staff, and to a man/woman, they are polite, courteous, thoughtful and generally pragmatic. It would be a mistake to think that the field staff of this Department will enjoy this new-found power over keepers, which has the potential to sour the public relationship even further. The field staff are the ones in the hot seat, put there by the senseless directives from head office.
I believe that little will change over time, keepers will not (and should not) go to the trouble and expense of building new enclosures when the ones they already use are perfectly satisfactory, and their animals remain in very good health... And after all is said & done, isn't the health of our animals what it's all about???
Jamie
