The Victorian government had introduced a Bill that will effectively define any purebred breeder as a Puppy farm, and will force people with “accidental litters” to give the puppies or kittens away free – regardless of the cost of raising those animals or how much veterinary attention they need.

PUPPY FARM BILL FACT SHEET

According to the Puppy Farm Bill fact sheet:

• Anyone who breeds even a single female dog and sells the progeny will be classed as a BUSINESS (or “puppy farm”) and will have to be registered in the same manner as any commercial breeder. This will catch EVERY purebred dog breeder in the state. For cats, it’s three fertile females. CONSEQUENCE: purebred and hybrid breeders will just stop breeding, which will drive prices of pets sky high and encourage illegal activity.

• Pet shops will only be able to sell pound or shelter pets  CONSEQUENCE: nobody’s looked at the current rates of sales and euthanasia of pets from pounds and shelters – it’s at an all time low.

• There is a prohibition on co-registration of pet shops/shelters/pounds/breeding on the same property. CONSEQUENCE: that should close down RSPCA and other pound shops.

• You will need a special government permit just to have a pet adoption day! CONSEQUENCE: why have an adoption day?

• If you have an accidental litter, or you find a litter of kittens “under your verandah” you will be FORCED to give them away even if the vet bills cost you a fortune. CONSEQUENCE: Expect to see more litters of drowned kittens….

• All the workload – the registration as domestic animal businesses, permits for adoption days, inspection of all these 16,000+ breeders, will fall on Councils. CONSEQUENCE: poor enforcement, or enforcement only on those that are targetted by activists, and a HUGE workload for Councils.

This legislation is as badly thought out as the Breed Specific Legislation that was also enacted in Victoria and STILL has not been repealed. ALL major Associations have policies against BSL.

It entrenches Victoria’s standing as a nanny-state that bans things rather than looking at facts and science, driven by agendas that don’t match the community. The Minister has, by her own admission, NEVER been to a commercial breeding unit.

This legislation has NOTHING to so with breeding quality standards,and everything to do with bureaucracy. It will reduce dog and cat ownership in Victoria, but maybe that’s the agenda?????

DO THIS: email your local member NOW. Tell them that nobody wants puppy farms, but there are better ways to deal with the issue than the massive bureaucracy that the government is enacting. Tell your local member that you want STANDARDS, not bureaucracy. Give them the Pets Australia policy on Puppy farms . 

Tell them that the pet industry is about quality.

When zealots take over the government, animal welfare suffers…..