5 June 1998
Dear Council Members and Chief Executives,
The family pet, that is so important to 60% of Australian households, provides many challenges to those entrusted with the responsibility to manage these animals. In recent years a great deal of time, thought, trial and practical experience has accumulated to help optirnise the benefits of pet ownership and minimise the impact that they have on the environment and those in our community who choose not to have pets. The Urban Animal Management Advisory Group of the Australian Veterinary Association has been part of this process since 1992.
During this period Ms Virginia Jackson has produced a series of well researched and practical papers to address the Town Planning issues of pet management. People have owned and cared for pets for at least 12,000 years. Ms Jackson's approach accepts the unbreakable nature of the human-anirnal bond and challenges town planners and policy makers to incorporate this into our urban structure to minimise the problems which can happen when we fail to make provision for this basic human need.
We commend to you the Companion Animals in the City compendium as a source of excellent material on which to base policy and planning decisions related to urban companion animals.
Yours sincerely,
Dr M.R.C. Banyard
Convener, UAM Advisory Group
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