After more than ten years of discussion and broad consultation with community and industry, Western Australia has finally adopted regulations to ensure the welfare of sheep and cattle during land transport and at saleyards and depots. The Animal Welfare (Transport, Saleyards and Depots) (Cattle and Sheep) Regulations 2020 (Transport Regulations) have been introduced in Western Australia – the last state in the country to implement these regulations.
The RSPCA has had significant input into these standards from day one and many of the suggestions we made during the consultation process have been included in the final regulations.
While RSPCA WA would like to see some aspects of the regulations regarding euthanasia, the definitions around an animal’s fitness, and some other wording strengthened, the regulations have the potential to improve the regulation of animal welfare in these important areas. The new regulations also allow for non-compliance to be dealt with by infringement notice with fines of $500-$750
