Interesting Read..

[Kitteh]

Click

[flatchat]

Sometimes people make me sick!!! People that would treat dogs this way are scumbags and I really hope they get karma many times over!!

[Atanquin]

IF you're not sure, there's a good chance it started life in a puppy factory where profit comes before welfare.

For six years, Oscar has lived as a stud dog. His entire universe has been a tiny, filthy cage. No walks in the park, no sunlight, he’s never even seen the sky. All he knows is being locked inside a giant shed with hundreds of other dogs on a remote property in Victoria’s Macedon Ranges. His life is an endless cycle of breeding and pain. Prized for his miniature size, Oscar’s pups, which he’s never seen, are marketed as "teacups" and sold for a premium. Until one night a woman appears, opens his cage, gives him his first cuddle and takes him away.

Pet-shop puppies are the very definition of cute. But what if you knew the vast majority of them started life in a puppy factory, where conditions are so horrendous, it beggars belief?

Puppy factories and backyard breeders are commercial breeding facilities. They can house up to 1000 dogs, producing masses of puppies sold for around $1000 each over the internet, through classified ads and in pet shops.

For almost two decades, Debra Tranter has dedicated her life to exposing the mistreatment taking place in secluded sheds across the country. She sacrificed her $90k job, suffered burglaries and assaults, and even has an "If Mum gets arrested or goes to jail" plan for her kids, now in their 20s. But early last year, Tranter and her campaign fell apart when Oscar, a dog she’d rescued, was returned to his puppy farmer.

“When we found Oscar, he was in a really bad way,” says Tranter. “His fur was so thick; it was like a concrete block attached to his body. His genitals were actually matted to his leg. He had an ear infection, which I could smell straightaway, and his ear canals were full of black sludge, fur and ear mites.”

Tranter rescued Oscar and took him directly to the vet. The vet said the dog’s teeth were so infected, he couldn’t eat, which explained his 2.2kg weight. Malnourished, Oscar’s skin was as delicate as tissue paper and the matted fur caused tearing when he moved. He had to be given a general anaesthetic so he could be shaved, which exposed a number of wounds and abscesses and left him a meagre 1.6kg. While under anaesthetic, Oscar was de-sexed in anticipation that he’d go on to a ‘forever home’ with a new owner.

That night, Tranter took Oscar to her home in Ferntree Gully, 40 minutes east of Melbourne, intending to find a foster carer for him the following day. Shortly after midnight, 10 police officers raided her house.

“The whole place lit up. They shone spotlights through the windows and officers banged on my door. When they said they had a search warrant, I knew they’d come for Oscar. I said, ‘Please don’t take him, he’s had surgery today.’ But they took him from my arms and put me in a divvy van. I was in the lock-up for two hours and could hear Oscar crying somewhere in the station.”

Tranter was charged with theft and Oscar was returned to the puppy factory.

“After the raid, I was a mess,” she says. “It was probably the lowest point in my life. All these years, I’d been fighting for these dogs, and I felt I’d completely failed. I’d rescued Oscar from that shed and given him hope. Now he was back there. It was the worst thing that could have happened. I drove to the country, sat under a tree and cried.”

Oscar earned Tranter her first criminal conviction in 18 years spent rescuing dogs and documenting puppy factories, a journey that began with a phone call when she was volunteering at an animal welfare agency.

“A voice said, ‘There’s a puppy factory with 1000 dogs near Ballarat. Look for a clearing in a pine plantation.’ Then they hung up,” she recalls. “Everyone kept saying, ‘Only chickens and pigs are factory-farmed, we don’t do that to dogs. It’s a hoax, forget it.’” But the voice haunted Tranter.

Armed with old fire brigade maps, she and a friend began scouring the region. Unsure of what they’d uncover, after three months, deep in a remote forest, they found it.

Tranter describes it as a cross between a pig farm and a concentration camp. An “industrial landscape” with rows of wire pens and hundreds of dogs pacing incessantly in never-ending figure eights. There were triangular metal kennels across the length of the compound, surrounded by a low fence. Left speechless by the scale of it, they waited for nightfall before going in to document their discovery.

“As soon as we entered the property, there was an eruption of sound, the dogs went nuts. At first it was excited barking, but after a while they calmed down and started howling,” Tranter recalls. “The smell was terrible. It was full of parvovirus [a contagious disease that causes severe vomiting and diarrhoea].” On later visits, she found many dogs also suffered from “a kind of flesh eating disease.

“When you look in the cages, it’s as though they’re screaming at you, not just with their bark, but with their eyes,” she says. “But it’s the ones who don’t bark - they’re the ones you know have been there for years. They don’t even move. Their spirits are broken.”

Tranter says the worst thing she’s seen is maternal cannibalism. “It’s when a mother gives birth to puppies and, as soon as they’re born, she starts eating them. She’ll chew off their limbs. The first time I saw it, I didn’t understand what was happening and I stood there and filmed it. When I saw it at home,

I was so ashamed and disgusted with myself that I destroyed the tape. I said to my friend, ‘Don’t ever tell anyone we filmed that and did nothing.’ But now, I know it’s so common, the industry has a term for it. On the documents that are leaked to me, I always read, ‘Mother killed puppies.’”

Serious health issues related to prolific births is another problem arising out of puppy farming, says Tranter. “I’ve seen dogs dragging ulcerated and weeping mammary tumours on the ground. A prolapsed uterus is when the mother, nearing the end of her breeding life, has had so many litters, the uterus comes out of her body.

“Unspeakable cruelty goes on in these sheds, and once you’ve seen it, you can’t un-see it.”

Tranter has since investigated around 70 puppy factories and backyard breeders in Victoria and NSW.

While mandatory legislation requires all dogs to have shelter and regular access to food, water, exercise and veterinary care, the problem is enforcement, which rests with local councils and state governments.

“Many puppy factories are in rural areas. Often, the council ranger and the puppy farmer are mates; they drink at the same pub, their kids go to the same school. Not one puppy factory I’ve been to operate in accordance with the legislation, but there’s no one out there enforcing it,” Tranter says, also acknowledging that her own activities are illegal. “The illegality of what I do pales into insignificance compared to what these dogs are going through. I believe the public has a right to know and the dogs need people to know. If someone calls me a criminal for jumping a fence with a camera, so be it.”

But after Oscar was taken away, Tranter questioned her resolve. “Sitting under that tree, I believed I’d failed. Then I thought, I wish there was some law I could use to get him back. If only I had Oscar’s Law. And that’s how I had the idea for the campaign.”

Tranter had been running Prisoners for Profit, an anti-puppy factory campaign that “bombarded people with horrific images”, which she now believes were too confronting.

“With Oscar’s Law, I feel I need to reach ordinary people with dogs, not necessarily dog people. I want it to be positive and empowering,” she says.

“Oscar’s Law aims to abolish puppy factory-farming and the selling of dogs in pet shops, but it’s not about showing negative images all the time and making it seem hopeless,” she explains. Tranter believes success will come from enabling consumers to make informed choices, so people know that

if they buy from a pet shop, their money will keep dogs in those sheds.

Oscar’s Law has received overwhelming support from the animal rescue community, as well as Kindness Trust (who fund its offices) and public figures including Derryn Hinch. The website has had half-a-million visits, but social media is where you see how the campaign is gaining traction, with endorsements from Sia, Jon Stevens, and The Scarlets.

A rally, held six weeks after the campaign launched, attracted 5000 protesters to the steps of Melbourne’s Parliament House. Tranter hoped for 50. “It was amazing. It made me realise people really care. It won’t be me that gets Oscar’s Law over the line, it will be everyone.”

And what of Oscar, the dog who inspired a movement? In July, Tranter visited the puppy factory again, this time in disguise.

“We responded to an ad in the Trading Post that said there were adult dogs for sale,” says Tranter. “I asked if we could look inside the sheds and the man said, ‘If you can stand the noise and smell, I’ll let you have a peek.’ I made a beeline for Oscar’s cage. He was at the very back, shaking and terrified.

“The man said, ‘That one was taken by some people and de-sexed; he’s no good. You can have him for $400.’ To think he sat in that rotten cage for 18 months and they thought he was no good.

“Now we have him back, it’s unbelievable,” Tranter says. “It’s a sign that you can never give up. This little dog doesn’t just belong to me, he belongs to everyone. He’s already inspired so many people. It’s wonderful that we have Oscar. Now we need Oscar’s Law.”

Join the rally for Oscar’s Law next Sunday, September 18, at Sydney’s Belmore Park, from midday. Visit www.oscarslaw.org.

Puppy Farming v Responsible Breeding

There’s a difference between responsible breeders and puppy factories

Legislation such as the Domestic Animals Act 1994 (Vic) rules that any person who runs a dog breeding business for profit must register with the local council. Enterprises must operate in accord with the state government’s Code of Practice, which outlines minimum standards of care.

The RSPCA considers puppy farming to be a significant national welfare issue. In its view, a "puppy factory" is defined as an intensive breeding facility operated under inadequate conditions that fail to meet the dogs’ behavioural, social and/or physiological needs. The organisation advocates regulation of the breeding, supply and sale of dogs to help set minimum standards and stamp out the mass-production of puppies for profit.

Want to buy a puppy?

Choose one from a shelter or an adoption agency, or visit the breeder’s premises before you commit. For more information, see the Smart Puppy Buyer’s Guide on the RSPCA website

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/national/where-did-your-puppy-come-from/story-e6frfkvr-1226133457010#ixzz1XbeTg4HB

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

I will be printing this article out and posting to a few local pet shops .... esp a large chain ....

[sandgrubber]

Confused. The pictures in the article show Oscar well groomed and looking superficially healthy. The story says Trantor was arrested the day after he was rescued. The event must have happened more than a year ago, cause there were Oscar's Law rallies in October last year. If Deborah Trantor has been working for two decades, she has done so without getting much press. Google shows she has achieved almost no mainstream media coverage and I can find no indication that she has been arrested, other than one 2008 incident reported by the Herald Sun.

No dog lover can support low-grade puppy farms, and only a tiny minority would support sale of puppies in pet shops. But I think we have to be skeptical of Animal Lib people.

Top animal lib activist charged

• From: Herald Sun
• June 16, 2008 12:00AM

A LEADING Victorian animal liberationist has been charged over an incident in which a man was injured when hit by a car and his dog breeder father suffered a heart attack.

Debra Tranter has been charged with assault with a weapon, reckless conduct endangering life and reckless conduct causing injury after a clash at the ACA Breeders Kennels farm, near Sale.

Matthew Hams suffered rib and back injuries when allegedly hit by a car at the farm.

His father Colin, the farm's operator, had a minor heart attack during the drama.

Ms Tranter will appear in Sale Magistrates' Court on June 24.

[Steve]

Animal rights

*uses extreme cases of mismanagement abuse and cruelty to misrepresent and vilify animal owners and related interests.

*Raises funds using crises that it has manufactured, distorted or sensationalized.

*Uses the political process to turn public concern for animals into laws that deprive private citizens of the right to make ethical, educated decisions about their relationships and management with animals.

The MDBA recognises and supports the contributions that responsible dog breeders make to the welfare of animals and to society and supports efforts to close substandard kennels. Animal rights activists use substandard facilities as a vehicle to indict all who produce puppies as pets, work or competition based on their narrow criteria for which ever group they target.

This is very evident in this article

Commercial doesnt necessarily = rotten, hobby doesnt necessarily = good. Any female dog can get uterine prolapse even on her first litter, female dogs sometimes eat their puppies in fact in some breeds it pretty common and it would be more likely if strangers were running around with torches and cameras stessing a bitch out while she is in whelp than if she were left alone, I saw it once years ago in a vets office when a bitch woke up after a C section, there is no data to prove the majority of dogs sold in pet shops come from sub standard establishments. How could anyone know if the dog had never seen sky ? Are they sure it was uterine prolapse and not vaginal prolapse - both can occur in any bitch regardless of how many litters she had. Are they sure they saw mammary cancers usually more common in bitches not desexed and NOT used for breeding than those which are and not hormonal cysts or mastitis?

What is a puppy farmer?

[MavericksMission]

dw.

Edited September 12, 2011 by MavericksMission

[Prydenjoy]

I don't know the ins and outs of this ladies life, but I do know that the story is a good read, and a good eye opener for the lay person who has never heard of a puppy farm and is about to buy a pup from a pet shop. We can pick to bits everything that anyone does, or we can see something positive and just go with it...

[sandgrubber]

I don't know the ins and outs of this ladies life, but I do know that the story is a good read, and a good eye opener for the lay person who has never heard of a puppy farm and is about to buy a pup from a pet shop. We can pick to bits everything that anyone does, or we can see something positive and just go with it...

Would it bother you if (a) the story wasn't true; and (b) the lady has a history of attacking and defaming decent breeders?

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

for those detractors, have you seen any of the videos? There is so much more to this than meets the eye. We are NOT talking about breeders who operate ethically.

Would you like to buy a puppy from anyone - registered breeder or puppy farmer - whose parents existed in a cage without vet care for years on end? I sincerely hope not.

I've had dogs from puppy farms, some of my close friends have been into them - not on raids but to look at dogs to buy. They really do exist.

Sandgrubber - you live overseas. You can read the news in Victoria where local councils STILL approve puppy farming operations - for God's sake. What will it take before people find it in their hearts to want to stop these places? If it is not the suffering of the animals involved - then what?

Edited September 12, 2011 by dogmad

[Steve]

for those detractors, have you seen any of the videos? There is so much more to this than meets the eye. We are NOT talking about breeders who operate ethically.

Would you like to buy a puppy from anyone - registered breeder or puppy farmer - whose parents existed in a cage without vet care for years on end? I sincerely hope not.

I've had dogs from puppy farms, some of my close friends have been into them - not on raids but to look at dogs to buy. They really do exist.

Sandgrubber - you live overseas. You can read the news in Victoria where local councils STILL approve puppy farming operations - for God's sake. What will it take before people find it in their hearts to want to stop these places? If it is not the suffering of the animals involved - then what?

Dogmad.Ive seen the videos and there is absolutely no doubt that people who are crimminals and keep dogs is dreadful conditions exist. I encourage anyone who knows of them to report them and have them charged.

Local councils do not approve puppy farms - if puppy farms are what the RSPCA Australia and all of the other groups who were involved in developing a plan to deal with them have agreed the definition is.

Local councils do not approve development applications for people to breed dogs in sub standard conditions. They approve people to be able to breed dogs on their property and comply with the mandatory codes.

There IS more to this than meets the eye. The stated goal of all involved is to bring us to a point where breeders are rewarded more for doing the right thing.Applying for a DA ,being easily located for inspections and complying with the codes they need to but the method chosen by Oscars Law is to make their lives miserable and publicly malign them and accuse them for asking. No one knows what the magic number is - At what number is it terrible to ask for a DA - is it 10, 20 50 ? What dogs is it O.K. to breed?What motivation is it O.K. to have to be able to apply for a DA and not be treated like pond scum for asking ? The minute we start to allow motivation to be involved [eg breeding commercially] we fall victim to any motivation being able to be outlawed and then you have to rely on people telling the truth about what motivates them. perhaps it should be purebred breeders, or maybe just purebred breeders of certain breeds or maybe anyone who breeds dogs for the show ring. Does anyone here truly believe that commercial breeders have a monopoly on treating dogs poorly and keeping them in filth and suffering?

Like it or not people have rights and you cant just break into their properties, decide they have no right to privacy or ownership of their goods without due and proper process.You dont get to say whether someone can make money out of breeding dogs, you dont get to tell them where they can sell their product and stalk them , ruin their businesses and reputations based on emotional beat ups collected from what someone else did and illegal acts. Do you really think people arent being stopped from doing the wrong thing because they are mates with the rangers as suggested ? It couldnt possibly be anything to do with fanatics making the accusations who have little or no credibility left and they undo the work being done to try and address it. Sometimes people are hoarders, sometimes they have mental issues and sometimes they really are cold hearted straight up money hungry criminals but this is not the way.

Why?

Animal rights

*uses extreme cases of mismanagement abuse and cruelty to misrepresent and vilify animal owners and related interests.

*Raises funds using crises that it has manufactured, distorted or sensationalized.

*Uses the political process to turn public concern for animals into laws that deprive private citizens of the right to make ethical, educated decisions about their relationships and management with animals.

I ask that before you simply accept the crap that you ask questions and dont get sucked into it all without thinking it through. Again I say it is an issue that needs to be addressed but following blindly someone who is known to have committed serious breaches of the law and reading articles and information given out which are so easily proved wrong beaten up by emotionalism isnt going to stop dogs suffering all it achieves is

use extreme cases of mismanagement abuse and cruelty to misrepresent and vilify animal owners and related interests.

*Raises funds using crises that it has manufactured, distorted or sensationalized.

*Uses the political process to turn public concern for animals into laws that deprive private citizens of the right to make ethical, educated decisions about their relationships and management with animals.

[Steve]

By the way - Ive had to be involved in some of the worst cases of filth and suffering of animals imaginable - Few of which included those who owned up to being commercial breeders.

ive walked through large commercial breeding facilities and inspected them and the dogs and Ive seem my own share of people who were rotten enough for me to report them who owned few and many .

So please dont assume that I havent seen as much if not more of what its all about. We do it legally and we have different methods of treating the issues which no new law could do.

So while the rest of the world is teasing them out and wanting them to be able to be seen and an eye kept on them oscars law just slams dunks the hell out of them and sends a message that its best not to ask.

Animal Rights

use extreme cases of mismanagement abuse and cruelty to misrepresent and vilify animal owners and related interests.

*Raises funds using crises that it has manufactured, distorted or sensationalized.

*Uses the political process to turn public concern for animals into laws that deprive private citizens of the right to make ethical, educated decisions about their relationships and management with animals.

[GeorgieB]

Unless I'm misunderstanding, the general point of the story is 'don't buy from puppy farms' after which she purchases Oscar from the exact farm she is condemning, for $400?

[Shazzapug]

Unless I'm misunderstanding, the general point of the story is 'don't buy from puppy farms' after which she purchases Oscar from the exact farm she is condemning, for $400?

That is correct..and we are led to believe that a puppy farmer kept feeding a desexed dog for 18mths...

[sandgrubber]

Sandgrubber - you live overseas. You can read the news in Victoria where local councils STILL approve puppy farming operations - for God's sake. What will it take before people find it in their hearts to want to stop these places? If it is not the suffering of the animals involved - then what?

I live in the US now, but I owned a boarding kennel in WA and also bred dogs for many years.

No question there are some horrible puppy farms. No question also that there are some horrible pedigree breeders, and some horrible BYB's. True in the US as well as Australia. There are rural areas all around the world where dogs are farmed, much as pigs are. I would like to see abuse of dogs ended, and support exposure of the low-grade puppy farms, wherever they are. There have been some shocking doco's on Amish dog breeding farms in Pennsylvania, which are permitted by law.

What I don't support is tarring everyone with the same brush.

But to the best I can determine, some in the animal rights crowd call many breeders 'puppy farmers', including breeders that a majority of DOL people would regard as quality breeders. Some segment of the animal rights crew would shut down all breeders who have more than a certain number of dogs, and in general, make life very difficult for large kennels . . . including many excellent breeders who maintain standards of hygine, veterinary care, health checking, exercise, etc that are well above average. They tend to be more accepting of the practice of having a litter or two out of the family dog, whether it be pedigree or X-breed, with or without health checks.

The animal rights crowd is diverse, as are dog breeders. I do not mean to tar THEM all with the same brush. But I am bothered that the story about Oscar, as presented in the news article, is self-contradictory, and my attempt to verify the story made those contradictions look worse, not better.

Edited September 12, 2011 by sandgrubber

[Atanquin]

Sorry but finally someone is doing something to stop puppy farms, I see on this sight all the time people getting slammed for buying a dog from a pet shop because it might have come from a puppy farm, and now people on the same forum that are agenced puppy farms are now sticking up for them..... So confussing

[Steve]

Unless I'm misunderstanding, the general point of the story is 'don't buy from puppy farms' after which she purchases Oscar from the exact farm she is condemning, for $400?

Yep and puppy farmers dont allow you to come to their properties but she can go into the property as a buyer under cover be given a guided tour and select the dog she wants to buy.

[GeorgieB]

Definitely a few holes in the story hmm.

Sorry but finally someone is doing something to stop puppy farms, I see on this sight all the time people getting slammed for buying a dog from a pet shop because it might have come from a puppy farm, and now people on the same forum that are agenced puppy farms are now sticking up for them..... So confussing

I don't think anyone is sticking up for puppy farmers, only discussing the inadequacy of the proposed laws and the negative effects they could have on ethical breeders.

If anyone is sticking up for puppy farmers they need to have their head checked... or a DNA test to see if they are related to Don Burke.. ;)

[SpotTheDog]

Unless I'm misunderstanding, the general point of the story is 'don't buy from puppy farms' after which she purchases Oscar from the exact farm she is condemning, for $400?

Yep and puppy farmers dont allow you to come to their properties but she can go into the property as a buyer under cover be given a guided tour and select the dog she wants to buy.

This is probably way out there, but anyway - I've been thinking about this for a while.

The terminology that goes around today - petshop puppies, [edited because I'm not sure I can mention the store name of the petshop that sells live animals], backyard breeders, puppy farmers, puppy factories - it's all extremely confusing for Joe Public. Further, many members of the public don't understand that intensive breeding for profit can happen to cats as well.

I would like to see a shift away from all of the terminology, and a focus on two things: ethical breeding, and unethical breeding. However, I understand that the use of the word 'ethical' itself comes into question in pure breeding because of the use of line breeding, essentially to preserve traits that define the specific breed itself.

When I talk about an ethical breeder, I mean one who, regardless of their chosen breed, ensures their animals always have the best food they can afford, clean water, shelter with clean and comfortable bedding and a heat source when it's cold, and mental stimulation. That stimulation to me should be in the form of appropriate toys, treats and foodstuffs that promote healthy chewing and interaction, and also daily human interaction, in the form of games, walks, physical contact. The ethical breeder will also health test their animals before breeding from them, breed only at the appropriate age, breed a limited number of times, breed for the love of the animal and the pursuit of perfection, and not for financial gain.

In terms of what number is the 'limit' - I think you should only ever have the number of animals where you can give each animal individual attention every day. For example, you should never have an animal that hides an injury or illness for days or weeks because you didn't have time to interact with the animal and notice that injury or illness. More specifically, you should never be in the situation where you think 'if I had fewer animals I might have noticed that sooner'.

The seven animals I have are justabout my limit. I manage to interact with them all individually every day because we have a regimented routine - and that routine means I notice immediately if someone isn't where they should be, e.g. not getting out of their bed, not coming running when called, not willing to go outside or come inside, so on. If I had more animals than this, or if my animals didn't get along well and had to be divided around the premises, I may not be able to do this.

Some folks will be able to do what I describe with 10 or more animals. Some would struggle with three difficult animals because of a need to keep them separately.

But how do you legislate for that sort of thing? (And as a breeder, which I'm not, would you even want to?)

I'm not sure how I feel about breeders who house animals that are destined to be family pets in a structure separate to their home, without the trappings of a home, for the purpose of a breeding programme. How does that affect the animal? What do you do to enrich that environment so that your animal is not, essentially, a sperm bank or a uterus in a cage? Does it get daily walks, or play, or cuddles, or interaction? If you try and rehome it after its years at stud or as a queen, will it freak out the first time it hears a doorbell or a washing machine spin off? Is that ethical breeding?

It's so bloomin complicated I'm barely even sure where I stand on half the issues myself.

Edited September 13, 2011 by SpotTheDog

[LizT]

Unless I'm misunderstanding, the general point of the story is 'don't buy from puppy farms' after which she purchases Oscar from the exact farm she is condemning, for $400?

That is correct..and we are led to believe that a puppy farmer kept feeding a desexed dog for 18mths...

Yeah, I'm having trouble getting my head around that one

I would have thought a commercial breeder would have offloaded the dog asap.