tdierikx

I read the $1800 as being the original $1500 purchase price plus $300 in the week the OP had her. She mentions that the pup required a vaccination, so you can chalk up a good $150 or more on that, depending on which vaccination was given - I think a C5 sits around that price nowadays. The rest could have included various types of other foods the OP tried to feed said pup. There is no mention of worming/flea/tick treatments, but I'm sure the vet probably at least suggested that when doing the vaccination. Regardless any possible "ignorance" on the part of the OP in dealing with this fussy pup, there is no excuse for the breeder or the third party Vicki being downright nasty in some of their messages to her. By all accounts, the pup arrived refusing to eat even the diet provided by the breeder, and the OP made all efforts to find a way to tempt her to eat to no avail, and also sought veterinary advice on the matter... so I would say that she gave her best effort at least, and deserves a little more respect/leeway than she has been given. At this point, the breeder now has both the purchase price AND the pup (and seemingly all the "power")... and the OP is just seeking help to resolve that, as she has neither for her effort/outlay. T.

If the offending is listed as occurring between April 2021 and February 2023, please tell me why they are backdating Barbie's six alleged litters to October 2020? I once had a Rottweiler who used to cycle every 3 months, but when she had a litter, she didn't cycle again until 6 months after that litter was born, then back to every 3 months until I bred her a second time roughly 18 months after that first litter. I desexed her after the second litter. Even if a dog cycled 3 months after whelping, that would put a roughly 5.5 month gap between litters, factoring in a 9 week gestation. Then there is the roughly 10 days into the cycle until the bitch is receptive, so the actual time between litters is closer to 6 months minimum... so 6 litters in 2 years (or in this case 23 months) would be a physical impossibility IMHO. Work out 23 months divided by 6 and you have Barbie whelping roughly every 3.8 months... huh??? Technically, that would have her cycling and being mated/impregnated with nursing pups still at foot... think about that for a minute... The only way "Barbie" could have 6 litters in 23 months is if there was some dodgy record keeping going on - which, although stupid, is not necessarily an indictable offence - nor is it actually/necessarily an animal welfare issue if more than one dog was used to represent "Barbie" in those dodgy records. I'd say that in the case of Barbie and the 6 litters the breeders would have a good case to fight that particular charge. Copping to a record keeping stuff up is much smarter than accepting a physically impossible charge of animal cruelty. Then again, this breeder may well have been guilty of other animal welfare charges... just not that one. T.

I've seen worse diets... personally, I'd go human grade mince and leave it raw in the mix. Could have tried human grade chicken mince also. My go-to is Savour Life Puppy raw food from Petbarn at the moment... and having good effect with the pups I've been fostering with it - but none of them have been fussy eaters. T.

@Deej722can you please post the breeder's food recipe here? It may help us to work out why she was averse to all of your feeding efforts. As a general rule, dogs won't starve themselves to death. At some point they will be hungry enough to eat and won't be too fussy about what food that is. Sometimes we owners need to be strong and wait the fussy ones out. At 16 weeks of age, Luna would also probably have been teething, so her mouth may have been a bit sore, and that can make them a bit more fussy about certain foods or presentations of same. Again, putting softer foods down and waiting them out usually works eventually. I would say that it wouldn't take much food to feed a 16 week old chihuahua enough to maintain reasonable health, as the vet found. Luna was maybe a little lean, but otherwise healthy, so your efforts had obviously been enough to maintain a reasonable level of health for Luna. Please take a little comfort from that fact... You mention you paid for a vaccination for Luna. At 16 weeks she should have come to you fully vaccinated. Was this not the case? Did she have documentation of when she had her other vaccinations and worming treatments? As for the refund, it looks like you may end up having to go to QCAT with your case. You have a receipt for the $450 deposit - does it say "deposit" on that receipt? As for the cash portion, if you withdrew it from your bank account before handing it over, there should be a record of that on your bank statement with the date showing the withdrawal around the time you took possession of Luna, so that may be evidence enough for the rest of the purchase price claim through QCAT. Worst case, you may be able to find an advertisement for pups for sale by the same breeder showing the price she regularly charges for them, which could also back up your claim. The text messages regarding the payment terms will also help as evidence. T.

Good girl Luna!! T.

Farming them out to other rescues to do the hard stuff is counted as rehomed in RSPCA's opinion... their work is done, accolades must be sought, and donations solicited for "all the good work" they do... T.

If you are going to want to breed dogs in Victoria, you might want to look at the laws/legislation regarding what you are legally required to do to be a breeder... and it's not as simple as you may think. Victoria already has some very stringent laws pertaining to the breeding of dogs, and it's only going to get more restrictive when they finally push through their new animal care and protection act. You will not only need to be a member of DogsVic or similar, you will need to register yourself as a domestic animal business and get local council approvals/permits regarding the number and type of dogs you have on your property, just to name a couple of costly startup measures even before you can put 2 dogs together. Then you need to know and follow more legislated regulations and COPs if/when you do decide to produce any litter of pups. There have been reports of breeders being refused applications regarding breeding in a number of local government areas, so good luck there... T.

Our rescue is getting another intake from the puppy farm this coming weekend... *sigh* T.

Our rescue has seen a marked increase in puppy farms closing down or downsizing, and all the ex-breeding dogs are being offered up to rescues in large numbers... T.

Are those 129 all transferred to other rescues to do the hard work, or are they with RSPCA Tas? The article isn't clear on that. T.

I think what this research shows is that 321 people answering an online survey over a 3 month period is not enough to actually draw any categorical result regarding this topic. It may be that this research paper could be used to instigate further in-depth studies (with many more participants) into the conclusions it draws. Breeds of dog/cats, or even rats, rabbits, reptiles, birds owned may also factor... it's not as simple as just owning a cat or dog and the owner's mental state. I think the research could be expanded to owners of all types of pets and their effect on certain mental health issues. Age of the participant may also factor, as will other life experiences before and after becoming a pet owner. There are plenty of published studies that show categorically that pet ownership does have a good effect on the mental health of humans, but this study seems to be claiming that cat ownership in particular might not be as beneficial to resilience in humans... which definitely needs further study to clarify whether that is actually the case. Factors like whether the pet cat is free-roaming or indoor only would need to be taken into account for a start... I'd say that indoor only cats that like to hang out with their owners would have more beneficial effect methinks. Personally, I know that when I'm feeling particularly low mentally, going out and having contact with a wide range of animals seems to calm those feelings. There is something about forming relationships/bonds with a completely different species that absolutely affects my mood in the most positive way... I call it "refilling my soul". I am much luckier than most, as I have friends with exotic animals like monkeys, meerkats, lions, livestock, native animals, etc... and just hanging out with some of those species and forming some form of communication/relationship with them is a buzz that is incomparable to anything else I've experienced... I highly recommend it actually. T.

Happy Gotcha Day Albert!!! You have chosen yourself the perfect forever family goodest boi! T.

So many levels of failure have to happen before a dog is found homeless and starving. 1. The owner who abandoned/"lost" him - if abandonment was preventable 2. No-one reporting a stray dog roaming - or did not follow up repeated sightings 3. Local government not acting to collect strays 4. No space in pounds/rescues/shelters even for animals at risk of being abandoned due to owner circumstances changing And the answer is not simply telling breeders not to breed their animals. The problem is not breeders, it's the consumer mentality... "goods" are disposable/replaceable. T.

Just a quick mention of the blood tinged poops... was it bright red blood and in relatively low quantity? If so, that could just be due to having diarrhoea, as the act of passing said diarrhoea can cause a small tear in the anal passage when going to the toilet, and it is actually not as serious as it looks. Only be concerned if the amount of blood is alarming (rather than smallish streaks of blood), or it looks like older darker blood that may have come from internal sources. I'm with the others suggesting that Molly only take the monthly versions of heartworm preventative from now on, if at all. Rebanne's treatment plan makes good sense, only giving the preventative when mosquitoes are actually active, and resting the dog's system in the cooler months. T.

Not all ethical breeders will want strangers traipsing all over their property to "see the parents and the conditions they live in"... but in this day and age of video calling, you can have a breeder do a tour of their place via facetime or similar method in real time. I wouldn't buy any dog from someone who wants to do the handover of the "goods" in a public carpark... in what universe is that ever going to be kosher? During the last NSW parliamentary inquiry into puppy farming, there were witnesses who inherently knew they were buying their pup from a puppy farm, but considered that they were "saving" is, so went ahead with the transaction... and one lady even went so far as to state on record that she wanted a puppy right then and didn't want to wait for one from elsewhere, so she bought a pup she knew was from a puppy farmer. Then there was the witness who didn't have any actual experience with buying from a puppy farmer, but she had seen stories about how evil they were on TV, which had formed her opinion... wtf?? T.

They do that everywhere... the rescue I'm with has worked with RSPCA NSW more than once for puppy farmed animals... the most recent being an intake of over 20 oodles. And we weren't the only rescue who took in such numbers, as the farm in question has to remove around 400 dogs as part of their deal with RSPCA to avoid prosecution and fines. 2 of my recent foster mums and bubs also came to us via RSPCA seizures, and my current lot came from AWL, although AWL supplied us with a whole pile of stuff when we took her and the babies in (including that Alice had been desexed when she had her caesarian, she was also vaccinated and chipped by AWL, so we have no actual medical costs to pay for her before rehoming) - RSPCA just hands over the dogs and all the costs relating to their rehab and rehoming fall on the rescues. In the grand scheme of things it's probably better that independent rescues take in animals that RSPCA cannot adequately care for, as at least their chances of survival and responsible rehoming are higher. It would be fair that if RSPCA receives donations for the animals it no longer has, that those donations should be forwarded to those actually incurring the costs, but that is never going to happen... *sigh* This is my concern too... too many animals are rehomed from various sources (including RSPCA) with behavioural issues, which are fobbed off as "it's a rescue and had a hard life before we saved it", rather than making some attempt to rectify the issue... grrr! T.

Warning... do not search for the story that contains footage of this incident... it is highly disturbing. Also note that articles describing the incident are also disturbing. That said, the footage actually shows that the child accompanying the woman also hits the dog at least once, yet that is not mentioned in the articles, just that she was accompanied by a child. There is a special place in hell for people who commit this kind of act on animals... T.

I'm with @Rebanne- initial puppy vaccinations and first adult booster, then no more unless needing to go into boarding kennels, and only then as most kennels demand it and won't accept titre test results showing immunity. Studies have shown that the C3 vaccine can have immunity results for all 3 diseases covered for up to 7 years, longer if the dog is exposed to small doses of the diseases at intervals during their life (such as would be encountered on daily walks, etc). Note that the kennel cough strains covered with the C5 vaccine only actually have good immunity effect for up to 6 months post vaccination. Instead of annual or triannual vaccinations, you can titre test for immunity levels once the initial puppy course and first adult booster have established some immunity if you are concerned, and then vaccinate if those levels are below what is required for continued immunity. As Rebanne says, the symptoms of parvo also can apply to other diseases, such as canine coronavirus, which is kind of a poor cousin of parvo, but can usually be treated more successfully, and the virus doesn't stay in the environment as long. Parvovirus spores can live in the environment for up to 2 years even in extremes of hot or cold temperatures, which is why it is imperative to vaccinate at least for initial immunity to get established. A single parvo laden dog turd has the potential to infect over 10,000 (and possibly double that number) animals... it is that potent... T.

And they hadn't done a simple blood test in all that time that would have shown that the dog was suffering from both conditions? Not to mention that the liver mass was most likely a haemangiosarcoma which is not caused by overfeeding. As for the claims of overgrown nails and conjunctivitis... his eyes look clear and normal in the seizure photos... and his nails look longish, but not markedly overgrown. In fact, apart from his immense girth, the dog looks pretty well kept. T.

Ummm... reading the linked article about the 70 charges, it states that one bitch had 6 litters in under 2 years... huh?? That is technically impossible... As for asking for donations of 300k to deal with this seizure that they instigated... grrr! They can recoup that in the adoption fees, which you know will be around 1k (or more) each, as the dogs are labradoodles, and 1k is cheap compared to getting them elsewhere. T.

I just found a coat in my dog goodies stash that fits Alice my foster dog, and she is wearing it in the mornings when the temps are around 5 degrees. She sleeps in a nice heated room with me at night, so doesn't need it until I get up and start moving about and the rest of the house is cold. We take it off once the day warms up. T.

Trust me, I've tried making friends with the dog in order to be able to catch it and take it to the pound myself, but it's a smart little turd and won't get within arm's reach... and I'll be buggered if I'm getting bitten trying to lunge for it. The compromise is shooing it home when it comes onto my property. I have spoken to the owners numerous times, the latest being yesterday after it nearly got skittled by a car when it came rushing out to bark at my friend who was visiting me... but unfortunately they don't seem to give a toss, and as council can't be arsed following up after the initial visit they made back in January, the owners haven't had any consequences applied for not keeping the dog on their own property, so they think they can continue to not do anything about the problem. T.

Interesting to note that from Emma's call for all papers relating to greyhound racing, this is the only one that is being touted as "proof" that the industry as a whole is rife with cruelty... generally these calls for papers result in literally hundreds, if not thousands of said papers.... surely if the industry was rife with cruelty cases, there would be more than one paper referring to it? As for RSPCA reacting to calls about racing greyhound issues, I'm not sure if they are actually tasked with that job under POCTAA... aren't racing greyhound complaints usually put through GWIC? In most animal welfare legislation there is a clear delineation between domestic dogs and working greyhounds, with jurisdiction for complaint management allocated elsewhere than RSPCA/AWL. RSPCA/AWL are generally responsible for domestic animal welfare management, and also usually only investigate or get involved in working/production animal welfare cases on an "invitation" basis by industry or government bodies if a case allows. Generally, the majority of racing greyhound owners care very well for their dogs, but as with any industry, there will be a minority component who mess it up for everyone. T.

Not sure what you are asking @JessicaLawrence... if you are asking if council has done anything about the dog across the road, the answer is a flat no... obviously they don't have the time or inclination to do their bloody job properly in this case. The dog is still being a complete little menace, and I'm still constantly shooing it home... T.

I think there are a couple of private veterinary telehealth providers active already... and at least one is connected to a pet insurance company, which could be problematic if the focus is on diverting possible claims on insurance. The only issue I have with telehealth for our pets is that unlike humans, our pets cannot accurately describe their medical situation, and most owners aren't terribly good at it either. Unless there is a physical examination of the animal, I would be loathe to allow diagnoses or prescribing of medications, however, it would be invaluable as a triaging service to weed out those basic cases that aren't urgent and can wait until business hours for an actual vet to see the animal - as is the current model referred to in the article. I'm all for a triaging telehealth service for our pets, but it's only one small tool that could be part of a larger range of services employed to deal with the situation at hand. As the article states, many graduating vet students only manage to last around 5 years in the industry before they leave for other pursuits. I personally believe that is due to the vet courses not being well designed enough to produce actual work-ready vets on graduation. Universities are constantly reducing the resources they need to achieve this goal, too much focus is on the theory/academic side of vet science, and not enough on actual practical experience because of the lack of those resources. Another issue is how prospective vet students are selected for the available courses - too much focus on academic results, rather than aptitude for the profession. And don't get me started on the sheer number of overseas student places allocated to these courses, which means that local students are competing for a smaller number of available places in the course. Then there is the ever shrinking list of procedures that are allowed to be performed by non-vets. Gone are the days when experienced vet nurses would be entrusted to do simple surgical procedures like castrations of cats and dogs (under vet supervision/sign-off of course). Vet nurses are taught how to place sutures also, but are not actually allowed to do so once they are in the workplace - surely cleaning and suturing of most non-complicated wounds could be entrusted to nurses where vets are scarce. Vaccinations are not rocket science either, yet must be performed by a vet (specifically for dogs and cats), but vaccinations for livestock and rabbits can actually be performed by anyone - not just those with any medical experience. I'm all for a registration scheme for vet nurses which would then allow them to perform more procedures legally. However, if vet nurses are legally allowed to perform more procedures, they should be paid more than minimum wage to do so... this is not a simple case of farming out procedures to cheaper providers. All that said, the rising costs of everything is also a factor. It costs real money to set up and maintain a working vet clinic, and that needs to be taken into account when discussing the cost of providing the services they do. Medicare has us complacent about what the actual costs of providing human healthcare are, and so we are shocked when that safety net isn't available when looking for healthcare for our pets. Pet insurance is a rip-off, often being cost prohibitive to low income earners anyways, so that's not a viable option for that sector of our pet owning population. We are seeing a situation where Medicare for human health is not working as intended, so I'm not of the opinion that introducing a similar scheme for pet healthcare is the answer either. Complex issues require complex solutions, and I'm not confident that the recommendations offered by the inquiry will go far enough to resolving most of the issues here... but it makes for warm fuzzies when they can announce to the media that they've "done something" about it, yes? Even if what is done is just the tip of the iceberg, and doesn't actually go far enough towards resolving the actual problem. Note the focus of the article is on the most simple and least impactful recommendation... but it can be implemented quickly and relatively cheaply, so it will probably be the only thing actually actioned IMHO... T.