Petnet - Urban Animal Management Conference. Information on management of dogs and cats

Jonica Newby

Imagine human life without cats and dogs. It's really difficult. We take them for granted. They inhabit our

landscapes, permeate our cultural images, wander through our stories, take part in our conversations and even invade

our language. Think of every single metaphor, every adjective, which has something to do with dogs or cats and

then try to think of how many days of your life you get through without using one of them. There aren't many - even

if it's just a pause to mentally call someone an S... O...B.

Our lives would be very different if they weren't there. Yet, despite this, public policy has for some reason tended to

ignore them. Look through all the major strategies and public policy documents which shape our cities and spot how

many references there are to the animals we now call companions. Virtually none. It's as if they don't exist.

The consequences of this oversight are already beginning to be felt. Urban consolidation means that more people are

squeezed into a smaller amount of space, but it also means more of their co-habitors, the cats and dogs who live with

them, are squeezed in as well. The results of failing to plan for the needs of animals when designing high density

housing or open space are more than familiar to everyone involved in UAM.

Fortunately this is changing and forces such as the urban animal management conferences are helping to drive that

change. I know that I don't need to convince anyone attending this conference of the importance of companion

animals to the community, nor of the need to broaden our policy approach to UAM. But what I would like to do is

help us to understand why it is important.

Our association with these animals has several dimensions. Cultural, historical, and most importantly, biological. It

is the latter element, the biological dimension, which is perhaps least understood and therefore, I think, of most

interest. We are not separate entities but part of a biological unit. Cats and dogs have evolved with us - and the whole

shape of human communities would not be the same had they not.

The fact is, cities in Australia are not just multicultural, but multi-species as well.

Dr Jonica Newby B.V.M.S. (Hons I), BSc.

Petcare Information & Advisory Service

Level 13, 644 Chapel St

Sth Yarra Vic 3141

Jonica Newby is a vetererinarian who joined the Petcare Information and Advisory Service three years ago,

following a period in mixed practice. As a divisional committee member of the Australian Veterinary Association, she

launched the Pet Pep education program in Victoria, and currently convenes the national Pet Pep Advisory Group.

Her interest in Urban Animal Management issues has led to work with numerous research and local government

groups, and she was a member the organising committee for the 1995 UAM Conference. Dr Newby also appears

regularly in the electronic and print media, and is a contributor the the Science Show on ABC Radio national. She

was recently elected to the AVA Board of Directors.