Some ideas are so good you have to wonder why someone didn’t come up with them sooner. One of these ideas is crowd architecture - collaboration around housing based on the needs of specific groups of people.

People with like-minded needs and interests (like pet owners) get together and design housing that suits them. When enough pet-people get together, housing projects can be discussed and planned to reflect the needs of pets.

Apartments can be designed with extra courtyards and other pet friendly features. Urban pet owners, a group who often have problems gaining permission to have pets in apartments, have a lot to gain from this new concept.

Melbourne architect Ivan Rijavec recently launched an online platform to ensure urban owners have the say on what their apartment will look like and what features it will have. Groups form around "niches" such as pets or gardens - when enough members seek similar aspects like rooftops, courtyards, pet-friendly areas, then potential housing projects will be proposed.

The idea is the buying power of the group makes it more affordable. In addition to cutting costs, Rijavec believes handing more power to buyers is a natural evolution. We're all for protecting the bond between people and their animal companions by planning for pets in urban settings. Visit citiniche.com.au for more.

Animal Welfare League Australia (AWLA) is proud to be Conference Partner for the 5th National G2Z Summit 2013.

Sharing resources, solutions and successful models is what it’s all about when it comes to saving the lives of more animals, providing high welfare standards and strengthening the people-animal bond. The G2Z model inspires us to strive even harder on behalf of our four-legged ‘clients’ with the momentum around G2Z exciting and challenging us in equal measure.

We proudly acknowledge AWLQ, an AWLA member, for developing this community change model to prevent abandonment and save existing lives. Australia’s widespread affection for dogs and cats, means saving lives is a goal most of us share and with the help of the community, government and non-government organisations, fewer adoptable animals are being euthanased.

The 2013 G2Z Summit will take us to the next level in achieving this goal, with inspirational speakers like Sharon Harmon, an animal welfare professional of 30 years experience, explaining how she achieves a 98% combined save rate.

Together we can save lives ...for more details on the 5th National G2Z Summit visit http://www.g2z.org.au/summit2013.html

We Aussies love our pets. We have one of the highest incidences of pet ownership in the world but surprisingly there is a lack of reliable data on pet ownership. To address the information gap, AWLA is supporting a proposal that the next national census in 2016 be used to obtain data on pet ownership.

A national committee, (Companion Animal Working Group) has proposed two questions to accurately identify how many households have cats and dogs and whether those cats and dogs are de-sexed. This kind of information would assist us to plan for the welfare of companion animals across Australia.

For pet owners, census data could potentially see the creation of  more dog-friendly parks and beaches or services such as after hours vets. Urban planners, councils developing local by-laws to manage cats and dogs and those delivering community education programs on socially responsible pet ownership could all benefit from having access to data on cats and dogs.

With pets proven to provide significant social, physical and mental health benefits to individuals and communities, there is likely to be a continuing and growing need for reliable statistics on pet ownership. We await the Government’s decision on including pet ownership in the next census with interest.

Imagine a time when the majority of people, including politicians and legislators accept high standards of care and protection for animals as the norm.

Imagine strong and practical animal welfare legislation in place nationally and supported by animal lawyers who defend mistreated animals, confirming high standards of animal welfare to the public.

Imagine an official public database providing access to procedures for delivering good animal welfare outcomes.

This vision is championed by Antione Goetschel, the world’s first lawyer for animals who will be speaking at venues around Australia in April and May. A specialist in human-animal relationships in Swiss and international law, Antoine has represented animal interests in cruelty cases and played a major role in Swiss animal law referendums.

He fought successfully to have the dignity of living beings protected by the Swiss Constitution.
Swiss laws set out, species by species, measures to protect the dignity and well-being of animals.

Antione Goetschel is speaking in Australia as part of an annual animal law lecture series hosted by Voiceless. Venues and dates are available at www.voiceless.org.au

We have a new and valuable ally in protecting our pets' long-term health. Disease WatchDog is a national surveillance system for tracking and mapping communicable diseases in companion animals. In a world first, this system is used by local vets to record cases of disease in dogs and cats at suburb level.

Pet owners can access this information and take action to protect their animal’s health. Disease WatchDog founder, Dr Mark Kelman, Technical Services Manager for Virbac Animal Health says the system increases community awareness around preventable animal diseases. By informing the public on outbreaks in their local area, the spread of diseases such as the highly infectious Parvovirus can be reduced. The key is vaccination - one simple vaccination can save your animal’s life.

With fifty percent of Australia’s registered vet clinics currently participating in the program, Disease WatchDog has logged 11,814 cases of disease in Australia since its inception two years ago, including 3,968 cases of canine parvovirus. Other recorded diseases include canine cough, canine distemper, canine hepatitis, feline calcivirus and more.

A new website launched this year enables the public to monitor disease outbreaks. By logging on with your email address at www.diseasewatchdog.org  you can view maps of disease hotspots and access information on diseases.

We may live in an increasingly artificial world but we belong to the natural world. All life is inter-connected.
Anyone who owns a pet knows how animals can enrich people’s lives.

Although Valentine's Day is designed as a day to pamper that special person in your life, it’s also a good day to celebrate the unconditional love that companion animals can offer. People enjoy attachments that are oblivious to their faults and this is provided in the uncritical affection of pets.Then there are the health benefits which companion animals bring their human families. These benefits are well known by now - lower blood pressure, lower heart rate, less visits to the doctor and reduced anxiety levels to name a few.

In exchange for these benefits, our role is to keep companion animals safe, happy and healthy. Valentines Day is a good time to contemplate ‘having a heart’ and extending care to include vulnerable animals. If lifestyle and circumstances permit, adopt a homeless animal. If not, there are many other simple ways to support animals.

Choose humanely produced foods, stop and sign petitions designed to improve conditions for animals, send a letter or email to the relevant government minister on issues where animals are receiving unnecessarily harsh, cruel or inhumane treatment such as live export and intensive breeding practices.

By engaging with politicians on animal welfare issues, you are advocating on behalf of animals. Get involved - animals don't have a voice and they need you.

For as long as animals continue to be defined as ‘property’ and animal suffering is measured against political and economic interest, poor welfare outcomes for animals are inevitable. It is widely accepted that our current political and judicial systems do not deliver adequate protection for animals.

Government departments and ministers whose role it is to improve animal welfare outcomes also work closely with powerful stakeholders such as those involved in live export and large scale factory farming operations. An inherent conflict exists when animal suffering is measured against human interest – animal welfare needs to be managed independently of industry.

Now there's hope for an end to this conflict of interest with the federal government’s establishment of the Independent Office of Animal Welfare. A Live Animal Export Working Party aims to come up with a model to secure decent and humane animal welfare outcomes. The Working Party is expected to report back to caucus by the end of February, with a model for an independent office that would develop and enforce national animal welfare standards.

That the ALP recognise the importance of animal welfare by voting to establish an Independent Office of Animal Welfare, suggests that the relentless efforts of so many Australians to engage their politicians on animal welfare issues are finally paying off.

What’s needed now is on-going encouragement to ensure the IOAW does function effectively in the interests of animals. Contact your local ALP member to congratulate them on the establishment of the IOAW and request updates on IOAW working party outcomes.

After a firestorm hit Dunalley in Tasmania, a temporary vet facility provided treatment to wildlife and domestic pets. Vets united to provide free services for affected animals whether those animals were owned, lost, stray or abandoned.

Participating vets provided emergency treatment and then organised onward transportation to vet clinics or animal shelters. Where the suffering of animals was too great, vets relieved the pain through humane euthanasia. Vet Dr Tering Davies said the coming together of veterinary clinics, animal shelters, governing authorities, organisations such as Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary and Reptile Rescue and a whole bunch of animal lovers was a true representation of what animal welfare should be.

During the life of the temporary facility, vets, vet nurses and volunteers assisted dogs with burns to their feet, face and eyes, reptiles with burns to their backs and tails, numerous wallabies, echidnas with burnt spines and fire affected birds. A St John’s ambulance member provided early treatment to an injured 16 year old dog before vets arrived and heroic fire fighters extended themselves even further by taking time to bring injured and traumatised animals into the vet facility for treatment.

Many locals, despite their own trauma, were taking in misplaced pets until their real owners could be found. What would these vulnerable animals say, if they could? Thank you to all those who cared enough to act on their behalf. Thanks also to the compassionate leaders at temporary refuges who recognised pets are family and permitted misplaced persons and their beloved pets to bunk down together. The Rural Fire Service of NSW provide a useful fact sheet on fire safety for pets (www.rfs.nsw.gov.au).

A study led by University of Western Sydney’s School of Medicine is finding out how pet owners prepare for disasters so emergency services can improve communications regarding the responsibilities and actions of pet owners in times of natural disaster.To participate or find our more information visit the study’s online survey by clicking here

Animal Welfare League Australia is partnering with the team at Vetico, a new online Pet Health Community. The online veterinary information site for pet owners has been created by vets and members of the veterinary industry to provide reliable up to date content. Vetico’s Chief Veterinarian, Dr Nick Wonders recognises that pet owners often go online to supplement their relationship with their local vet and need to be able to ensure they are getting accurate information. While there is a lot of pet related content on the internet, vets in practice are concerned about some of the advice being given to pet owners online. Vetico aims to address this by providing quality information. Together, AWLA and Vetico also aim to increase the exposure of Australian pet owners to animal adoption from shelters and the nature of the human animal bond. Visit www.vetico.com.au

Several studies have suggested that animals in the workplace bring benefits to staff productivity and morale. Perhaps tradesmen have known this all along – it would explain why canines are unofficial supervisors on many a building site. The Australian Tax Office allows tradesmen to claim their dog as a tax deduction. Expenses like vet and pet food bills can qualify as a deduction for tradies whose dogs have a role in guarding tools or the work ute. But when it comes to pets in an office situation, pre-planning is the key. Not all pets are suited to spending time in the office. Highly social, well trained, relaxed animals are most likely to fit right in. Shy, anxious, nervous or high energy animals are not likely to enjoy a busy, noisy or confined office environment and may be happier staying on home base. Likewise, not all people are suited to working in an environment with pets - it’s just good manners to check it out with your colleagues first.