Making sure there is room for pets in our society in the next millennium - providing for, not preventing, pet access
Virginia Jackson
Abstract
What is the future of pet ownership in the next millennium? Will we be able to own pets? Or are we heading towards very low levels of pet ownership; a trend that will prove irreversible? I believe we have a stark choice. Left untouched, pet ownership may well become a thing of the past, due to a constellation of forces making it more difficult to own pets. Changing lifestyles and housing type, increasing restrictions on pet ownership and declining tolerance suggest the trend is with us already. But delve further and we find a community that still yearns for the companionship of animals in their lives. To trivialise this relationship is to ignore a vast literature on the benefits of owning pets. The alternative path, still ill-defined, is to actively make provision for people who wish to own pets. This involves more sophisticated approaches to animal control that focus on prevention. It involves consideration of the needs and benefits of pet ownership in a range of other policy areas like housing, public open space, public health and social planning. Local government in Australia is grappling with this choice. Part of the problem is a set of deeply-rooted mindsets on the relevance of pet ownership to local government policy, as something other than a problem. We call this 'the smirk factor' and it needs to be overcome. This paper outlines the challenges afoot and takes the first tentative steps towards defining the alternative path that must be taken to ensure there is room for pets in society in the new millennium.
About the author
Virginia Jackson
Harlock Jackson Pty Ltd
Urban Policy Analysts and Town Planners
288 Brunswick Street Fitzroy Vic 3064
Ph. 03 9411 4012 Fx. 03 9411 4011
Email. v_jackson@fc.ausom.net.au
Virginia is an urban policy analyst and town planner with over 15 years experience working with state and local governments and other consultancies. Virginia is a Director of Harlock Jackson Pty Ltd, a consultancy established in 1990 to specialise in the growing area of companion animals' management for governments and community groups around Australia. Services include the development of animal management plans and policies, public education campaigns, community consultation, training and professional development and original research. Many of Virginia's research projects have been world-firsts and have featured in international journals and conferences. Her most recent publication, 'Companion Animals in the City' was distributed to every state and local authority in the country.
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