Alexandra Cottee, June 2010
The stench of faeces and urine burnt her nostrils. One metre by one metre concrete cells lined the walls of the shed, each housing faeces-encrusted bedding, an empty water bowl, and a lone dog.
For the 20 dogs caged on this puppy farm near Meredith, Victoria, those concrete walls were their entire world. Their value was not measured in terms of love or companionship, but in how many puppies they could supply to a pet shop near you.
Local tip-offs had prompted Animal Liberation Victoria to conduct a late-night inspection of the Meredith property in June. Armed with blankets and food, Belinda Vusso and the ALV team documented their findings, and wrested from the owners their retired breeding stock and those in need of urgent veterinary attention.
As supervisor of the kennels department at Seeing Eye Dogs Australia, Ms Vusso was shocked by the squalid state of the cells and the poor health of the dogs.
“They all had urine burns, there was faeces everywhere, three females had tumours and all had severe behavioural disorders,” Ms Vusso said.
Debra Tranter, head of the ALV’s puppy farm campaign, alerted the RSPCA and local council Golden Plains Shire and urged them to conduct their own inspection of the property.
The following day, the RSPCA confirmed the poor conditions and vowed to closely inspect the property in the coming months. But Golden Plains Shire responded that all dogs were registered and conditions were fine. It was also noted that no evidence was found to suggest it was a puppy farm.
Like hundreds of cases before them, the owners of this puppy farm are yet to face punishment for their lack of concern for the living conditions of their dogs, and continue to operate.
Ms Tranter recalls the conditions of a puppy farm in Ballart that was housing over 1000 dogs in 44-gallon drums as one of the most severe cases. “They just seem to get worse and worse because they’re unregulated.”
She said weak legislation in Victoria and a lack of enforcement by local councils has allowed breeders to operate without regard for their dogs’ health and well being.
But Debra Tranter and Belina Vusso are not alone in the fight for our furry canine friends. On Sunday, 60 animal welfare organisation’s and hundreds of dog owners and lovers rallied on the steps of Parliament House to call for an end to puppy farms.
Ms Tranter has been campaigning to ban the factory farming of puppies for 15 years, and saw the rally as a way to raise public awareness about where pet shop puppies come from.
“I have been inundated with emails and calls from people saying they had no idea this was happening,” she said.
Earlier this month the Opposition announced it would tighten breeding codes of practice, increase fines for not adhering to guidelines, and give the RSPCA and local council’s greater power to shut down lax operators.
Shadow Treasurer Kim Wells rallied with protesters, and said a Baillieu Government would increase fines from $1000 to $30,000.
The success of the ALV’s campaign hangs on the government’s take-up of Oscar’s Law. It calls for a ban on the sale of puppies from pet shops, abolishing puppy factories, a reformation of the pound system, improving education about pet ownership and subsidising a desexing program.
But Vicki Knowles, a dog breeder in Woodend, said the law puts a blanket rule on ‘puppy farms’ despite many establishments breeding happy, healthy dogs in a comfortable environment. “Its all very well for people to call for an end to puppy farms, but a line must be drawn between a good puppy farm and a bad puppy farm,” said Mrs Knowles.
“It’s a huge $4 billion industry. That’s what we’re up against, but we’re not going to stop until Oscar’s Law is passed,” said Ms Tranter.
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