Emma's Act to get tough on animal abuse

A Rotorua woman is set to launch a national campaign to introduce tougher penalties for people who abuse animals.

Rebecca Hopkinson's campaign was prompted by a border collie she has adopted and named Emma. The dog was dumped at the Rotorua SPCA under-nourished and cowering.



Ms Hopkinson decided to try to do something to stop such mistreatment being inflicted on other dogs.

The Mamaku woman has launched a nationwide campaign calling on Parliament and the New Zealand judiciary to get tougher with people who abuse or neglect animals.

Emma, a 1-year-old purebred collie, had been "beaten to a pulp", starved and left in the SPCA's "dump box". Little more than skin and bones, she cringes when around people.



Ms Hopkinson wants 500,000 signatures for a petition she will deliver to Parliament calling for the introduction to the Animal Welfare Act 1999 of a range of changes including a new aggravated animal cruelty charge.

"Emma's Act" would increase the minimum amount of fines, increase jail terms and impose a mandatory lifetime disqualification from owning animals for proven cases of cruelty and neglect.



"In most council bylaws, there is little mention of the punishment for an act of cruelty to an animal and a lot about aggressive dogs ... and the punishment of dogs. This has to change.

"I realise there are already good laws in place, but they are never really enforced through the courts as well as they should be ... There needs to be minimum amounts for fines, rather than maximums."

Under the Animal Welfare Act 1999 convictions for cruelty to animals carry a maximum of three years' jail and/or a $50,000 fine for individuals and a $250,000 fine for companies or organisations.

"The penalties are good, but the means of getting them are an uphill struggle for organisations like the SPCA."

Ms Hopkinson will launch her campaign on Saturday and will be in Rotorua's City Focus with Emma, seeking signatures for the campaign. Petition forms will also be sent to pet shops, kennels, catteries and SPCA branches around the country.

Among the first she hopes will sign her petition is Prince Andrew, who will be in Rotorua this weekend.

"I hear he is a massive animal rights supporter."



SPCA national chief executive Robyn Kippenberger said she would back Ms Hopkinson's campaign.

"The law is still new and we are still forming case law and precedents around it, but we are overwhelmingly getting sentences at the lower end of the scale.

"The judges are comparing cases of cruelty against animals to abuses against humans and the sentences don't often reflect what has actually been done."