STOP PRESS UPDATE DEC 2016

IF YOU ARE IN PET BUSINESS, THEN YOU WILL BE AFFECTED BY THE BELOW!

The Bill has been withdrawn by Pulford after the Parliamentary Inquiry recommended that it not go ahead. SEE THE REPORT HERE

Essentially the report found that SEE MEDIA SUMMARY HERE:

• The Bill would not enhance animal welfare
• There is no relationship between the number of bitches owned and the welfare of the animals
• There is no scientific reason to stop Pet Shops stocking pets
• The Minister had engaged in no consultation, apparently other than with Animal Rights groups, something not lost on other MP’s SEE HERE
• Group after group stated that the Bill simply would not work SEE HERE
• Even The Greens were concerned about there being no meaningful consultation SEE HERE

Perhaps the real reason was that Pulford and Andrews realised that they didn’t have the numbers in the Upper House: we understand the Labor party is a ‘man down” as a result of a member being stood down.

BUT The Minister foreshadowed that they will bring back a new Bill in 2017 SEE STATEMENT HERE

The Minister has also foreshadowed that they are still going to back a hard line on pet shops and anyone who considers pets to be a business SEE HERE. It is likely, because of the above, that they may have the numbers to see it passed.

This is directly contrary to the recommendations in the report! SEE HERE

Our concern? That they will do a deal (already foreshadowed) with DogsVic, use the same name for the Bill to dupe consumers, and simply go after legitimate, audited, licensed commercial dog breeders and pet shops that sell pets.

What does that mean? It means up to 30% fewer pets for people to own in Victoria!  Victorian Families will face a shortfall of up to 100,000 puppies per year, and with euthanasia at rock bottom, not even pound pets will make a dent on this shortfall. SEE CALCULATIONS HERE

What if they just “Grandfather” the current businesses and stop any new ones? While at first glance this might overcome the compensation issue (and Pets Australia is the ONLY organisation talking about the compensation issue!); can you think of a better way to paint a target on those that are “grandfathered”? It would be in the activists best interests to “prove” that those grandfathered should have their licenses revoked. This is NOT an alternative.

IF YOU VALUE YOUR PET BUSINESS, RECOGNISE THAT:

• The activist agenda is to stop pet ownership in all its forms SEE HERE
• The activist agenda is ongoing, they choose the easiest target. They have already indicated that purebred dog breeding, racing, farming and other activities are next, it is a vegan agenda SEE HERE
• The activist agenda is that you should not own the pet of your choice, only other people’s cast-offs, including fish, birds and reptiles SEE HERE

But if they close down all the breeders, where do they think these cast-offs will come from? Wait, there won’t be any = no pet ownership! Mission accomplished!

The Vic Labor party appears to have been hijacked by the animal activists. Wixxyleaks, the supposed whistleblower who has been attacking pet shops and commercial breeders, turns out to be NOT ONLY a Labor party staffer SEE HERE , but is the kissing partner of Animal Liberation/Oscars Law activist Debra Tranter SEE HERE

DO THIS!

Don’t be hoodwinked by the old photos, fancy marketing and clever use of words by activists. See them for what they are: that they are playing “the long game” against pet ownership. Understand that activists are now playing to political parties and have the funding to do it SEE HERE (While this article is unashamedly highly conservative and anti union, look beyond to the sentiment: stand up for your business or expect to lose it against highly funded anti-everything movements!)

Understand that, in adopting policies that unnecessarily increase the cost and reduce the availability of pets to Victorian families for no truth or science based reason,  the Labor Party no longer stands for “the working family” but for inner-city elites in a post-truth era.

JOIN your industry group. DEFEND your business and those high quality businesses that supply families with pets. STAND UP for the strict, standards based laws that we have to drive substandard operators out of the industry and DEMAND better enforcement and stronger prosecution of those that don’t pass the highest inspection.

More to come…..

 

AUGUST 2016

In a stunning move, the proposed  Victorian “Puppy Farms & Pet Shops” Bill put forward by Daniel Andrews, Jaala Pulford and the Greens will actually encourage puppy farming, and drive pet prices beyond the reach of working families – Labor’s traditional heartland.

The Bill sets out to drive out “best practice” regulated,audited and inspected pet shops and breeders, and put in it’s place layers of paperwork and bureaucracy that cannot be enforced and will encourage poor quality “quick buck” operators to sell pets out of carparks and roadsides. In spite of the name of the Bill, it will actually encourage these substandard “puppy farmers” to be the source of pet supply as pet prices rise.

It will also HURT animal welfare  – the direct opposite of what the Bill tries to pretend it’s doing. CLICK HERE TO SEE THE 10 WAYS ANIMAL WELFARE WILL SUFFER!

 

See the Bill here

Labor and The Greens will

• close all “best practice” pet shops from stocking pets so you have to get them from the classifieds instead
• force families to buy only pound dogs from pet shops, regardless of what breed they actually want or what breed/s might be suitable for that family
• drive up prices for pets by shutting down the supply of pets from best practice operators, resulting in increasing % of pets coming from poor operators who do not abide by the law
• virtually stop the donation of pets to disabled people from ‘best practice’ hybrid and purebred breeders
• dramatically increase the numbers of puppies and kittens being shipped long distances from interstate, including in the heat of summer – with an increase in deaths as a result
• shut down the supply of purebred pets, by putting such incredible licensing and reporting requirements in place that hobby breeders will simply give up providing beautiful purebred pets
• require a permit just to hold an adoption day, a bird market, or just sell a pet
• turn ordinary families into criminals if they don’t get licenses and permits if their pet has a litter, or if Council won’t supply these licenses and permits.
• Every dog trainer will have to be individually licensed unless they are part of a corporation and each and every one will have to send the Minister a report to read – every year
• Turn every animal shelter into a profit making enterprise by requiring that any unlicensed litter of kittens must be given to a shelter – regardless of the money you spend yourself on veterinary care when you find them.

In a direct hit to Labor local Councils, Andrews and Pulford have put the ENTIRE enforcement load of this Bill – permits, databases, inspections, records, enforcement and prosecution too, onto Council staff.

Councils have already threatened not to issue licenses at all, or to charge up to $3000 per licence – guaranteed to stop purebred breeders in their tracks and make the family with the accidental litter into criminals when they can’t afford or can’t get a license.

Councils will be forced to carry out enforcement measures, including looking into your yard, garage and laundry looking for illegal litters or extra breeding females.

Importantly, the Minister has admitted that she has never been to see a commercial breeder or examined the traceability in a pet shop – but she has admitted that she has consulted with fundamentalist Animal Rights groups whose mission it is to stop pet ownership altogether. The CEO of the RSPCA Victoria, Dr Liz Walker, has also admitted she has never seen a commercial breeder and that there is no science in the Bill. The Greens Animal Welfare expert has admitted she has never seen a commercial breeder, but she believes Animal Rights groups  -those same groups whose stated policy is that people should not own pets.

DO THIS: email Andrews now and ask that he support the Alternative Approach – which will actually eliminate puppy farmers and allow best practice operators to provide you with quality pets. daniel.andrews@parliament.vic.gov.au

Tell him that what is required is to eliminate those substandard operators that are illegal under current laws (as per his election promise) and NOT the expansion into an anti-pet agenda.