PUPPY FARM SUBMISSION

The Current Situation
The strong demand for purebred and designer dogs is encouraging a great number of suppliers to enter the breeding market. With puppies ranging from $500 to $2,000 each, suppliers see this as an easy source of money. It requires no skill, training or capital. Puppy Farms have an average of 200 to 300 dogs kept for breeding at any one time.

The Bureau of Animal Welfare has records for 70 registered Puppy Farms throughout Victoria. 60 unregistered Puppy Farm addresses have been made available through Freedom of Information requests to various Councils and tip offs from members of the public. There would be many more unregistered Puppy Farms out there which have not yet been identified.

The production line of puppies is further boosted by smaller, disreputable backyard breeders (owning less than 200 – 300 adult bitches) and the nationally recognised (legal) Purebred Fraternities – who registered a mere 66,000 puppies in 2009 – a tiny percentage of dogs registered with Councils for the same time frame.

Puppy Farm Sales
Farmed puppies are sold through brokers (who can have up to 200 suppliers), pet shops as well as the through printed and online publications (ie. The Trading Post and newspaper advertisements, plus websites including dogzonline.com.au, ebay.com.au and petlink.com.au) An example of one week’s advertisements on petlink.com.au has been attached.

The conditions many of these breeding dogs are subjected to throughout their lives as 'breeding machines' are extreme - many bitches have had up to 4 litters by age 3. Conditions in puppy farms are appalling – but current council and law enforcement levels mean most farms continue unchecked and without penalty.

Proposal for a Council Identification Certificate for Puppies
Existing laws require all dog owners to register their dogs with their local Council. Failure to register all dogs will result in a fine.

A simple change in the way dogs are registered will help to prevent the unchecked nature of puppy farms by making it a requirement that all dogs (whether from puppy farms or other sources) be registered BEFORE they are sold (as well as being registered in the local council of their new owner).

All puppies born in a council’s district are to be registered with that council by 8 weeks of age or prior to sale, whichever occurs first.
Each registration form will include details of the sire, the bitch and the breeder.
The council will then issue each puppy with a Council Identification Certificate which includes a unique tracking number and the name of the issuing council.
Failure to register a dog by 8 weeks or age, or prior to sale will incur a fine.
Certificate must accompany any puppy at point of sale and into adulthood.
No dog may be subsequently registered without this certificate.

The law will force the breeder to register every puppy or dog disposed of, making it less attractive to produce large numbers of dogs (which currently attracts little or no monetary consideration).

Registrations will also provide the council with details of breeding locations.

Regulating from a different angle

The effectiveness of introducing a Council Identification Certificate (CIC) for each puppy lies in the fact that it will be the consumer (new owner) who regulates the process. If a potential puppy purchaser is in the market for a dog and the relevant breeder is not willing to provide the puppy with a CIC – then it is the new owner who will regulate the law by walking away from the purchase – as they simply cannot register that puppy with their council without the relevant paperwork. They will then go to a breeder who will comply with the new regulations and supply a CIC.

The ramifications to the non-complying breeder are two-fold:

They will lose the sale
The potential purchaser can make a report to the breeder’s local council for non-compliance and the breeder will be fined.

This will result in enforced changes with breeders –

The breeder will have to comply with the new law or face losing sales and fines
forced recording of puppies produced will, by default, require disclosure of estimated income and attract taxation investigations if tax is not paid on income.

Public Education/Community Awareness Program

It is anticipated that the media would provide initial coverage of positive steps taken toward the regulating of puppy farms.

For continuing public awareness, the amendment should include the requirement by any providers such as the Trading Post, Pet Link, Dogzonline and E-bay to display a prominent disclosure at the beginning of listings for the sale or disposal of puppies and dogs:

All purchases of puppies or adult dogs must be accompanied by a Council Identification Certificate to be provided by the seller through their local council

Benefits of Council Identification Certificates

The benefits of this proposal include:

Councils will receive a substantial increase in funds. As an example of revenue:

• Banksia Park Puppies (a breeding establishment based in XXXXX?) has admitted they breed 2,500 puppies per annum from 300 dogs. A suggested Council registration fee of $25 per puppy will generate $62,500 each year from one Puppy Farm alone.

• o The Wellington Shire Council in Sale, Victoria, has 14 registered puppy farms averaging 200 dogs each; resulting in approximately 1,700 puppies sold from each farm per annum. 1,700 x 14 farms = 23,800 puppies (x $25 registration fee) = $595,000 in new revenuefor the Wellington Shire Council per annum. With an average price of $700 per puppy; generated sales from 14 puppy farms = $16.6 million
Increased revenue will allow for an increased number of rangers to monitor and regulate the welfare of dogs at breeding establishments, thereby preventing the appalling conditions in which many of these dogs exist
The government will be seen to be clamping down on puppy farms and will also receive extra revenue from previously undisclosed sources of taxable income
Costs are funded through the breeders, who will also now be traceable and accountable for their sales.
Ongoing awareness of CIC’s will be upheld by service providers or advertisers/promoters of breeding establishments.

If successfully implemented, these actions will reach a common goal in helping to eliminate the cruelty associated with many puppy farms.

Deceased - Meredith Puppy Farm April 2010	Paxton Puppy Farm 2010
No shelter, caged and chained in obviously cold conditions (note observer is dressed for winter conditions) Meredith Puppy Farm 2010	Deceased - Ballarat Puppy Farm 2005
Forced to live in filthy conditions	No room to move