Gold Coast Breeder Permit Scheme

[Lab lady]

Having to have a breeder permit in order to own an entire dog is an issue.People should be able to decide on this and whilst lowered registration fees are a good thing either entire or a breeder is in my opinion not on.

You don't have to hold a breeders permit to own entire dogs, you only need it to breed from them.

I own 2 entire bitches and as of yet do not hold a permit as i have no litters planned at the moment. The registration fees remain the same whether you have a permit or not. We do get a discount for being a Dogs Qld member.

The council, in conjunction with dogs qld held a meeting last year to discuss the breeders permit. I personally found it quite good and there was a very clear message made that the rules and regulations in the breeders permit scheme were based on the dogs Qld code of ethics so provided a member followed the code of ethics they should have no concerns in being granted the permit.

Earlier this year i had 4 of the council rangers in my street investigating reports of dogs attacking the cattle in the paddocks near my house, i was in my front yard at the time and got chatting to them and asked about the permit and about any changes i would need to make to my yard to be granted the permit. They all came into my yard to check it out.

My home has a terraced yard, a covered patio area off the family room and a single attached garage off the patio area. I have a paved area adjacent to the patio area and then there are 5 steps down to a reasonable sized flat grassed area. I have removable fencing around the garden beds on the top section which prevents the dogs getting into the gardens and when i have a litter i have a fence and gate at the top of the stairs so the pups can't get down the bottom area. I have gutter drains around the patio which makes it easy to hose down. The garage has raised bench shelving so the whole area can be easily hosed out as well.

I didn't have all the fencing in place at the time the rangers were here and the only bedding was for the older dogs not the puppy pens i set up. I explained that i raise the pups for the first few weeks in the family room of the house and then they go to the garage. All the rangers agreed that there would be no problems with the set up i have and they felt i would easily get a permit provide i had no objections from neighbours.

They also said they didn't know of any applications from dogs Qld members that had been refused but they had had a few from non members.

[Steve]

Having to have a breeder permit in order to own an entire dog is an issue.People should be able to decide on this and whilst lowered registration fees are a good thing either entire or a breeder is in my opinion not on.

You don't have to hold a breeders permit to own entire dogs, you only need it to breed from them.

I own 2 entire bitches and as of yet do not hold a permit as i have no litters planned at the moment. The registration fees remain the same whether you have a permit or not. We do get a discount for being a Dogs Qld member.

The council, in conjunction with dogs qld held a meeting last year to discuss the breeders permit. I personally found it quite good and there was a very clear message made that the rules and regulations in the breeders permit scheme were based on the dogs Qld code of ethics so provided a member followed the code of ethics they should have no concerns in being granted the permit.

Earlier this year i had 4 of the council rangers in my street investigating reports of dogs attacking the cattle in the paddocks near my house, i was in my front yard at the time and got chatting to them and asked about the permit and about any changes i would need to make to my yard to be granted the permit. They all came into my yard to check it out.

My home has a terraced yard, a covered patio area off the family room and a single attached garage off the patio area. I have a paved area adjacent to the patio area and then there are 5 steps down to a reasonable sized flat grassed area. I have removable fencing around the garden beds on the top section which prevents the dogs getting into the gardens and when i have a litter i have a fence and gate at the top of the stairs so the pups can't get down the bottom area. I have gutter drains around the patio which makes it easy to hose down. The garage has raised bench shelving so the whole area can be easily hosed out as well.

I didn't have all the fencing in place at the time the rangers were here and the only bedding was for the older dogs not the puppy pens i set up. I explained that i raise the pups for the first few weeks in the family room of the house and then they go to the garage. All the rangers agreed that there would be no problems with the set up i have and they felt i would easily get a permit provide i had no objections from neighbours.

They also said they didn't know of any applications from dogs Qld members that had been refused but they had had a few from non members.

This legislation requires residents who own an entire cat or dog, and breed, or intend to breed, to hold a breeder permit.

If you want to breed in future so therefore need a breeder permit but you are not abe to get a breeder permit where you currently live you dont tell em you want to breed - so why on earth would anyone say they want to breed,pay the permit way before they really would need to anyway ,go through an inspection and take the risk of being knocked back when all they have to do is say oops I didnt intend to breed. If you apply and get knocked back and you have already said you intend to breed what comes next can you still keep your dog entire? What if its oops then? How does this stop back yard breeding ? What happens if you go oops without a permit? You cant sell your puppies without one. What happens to them?

[WreckitWhippet]

You say animals end up in the pound because of behavior problems sickness too much trouble etc;but these same problems occur with pure breeds as well,yet you don't see page after page of pure breed dogs in the pound.Why the difference.Are breeders of pure breed dogs afraid to be on a level playing field with breeders of cross breeds.? they shouldn't be,it would be of benafitt to them.

Because purebed dogs are for the most part, bred to a standard. That standard covers type and temperament, they are more likely to grow up looking like and behaving like the dog the owner purchased.

It's not to say that every pedigree dog will be perfect or suit its owner but given some have been bred for hundreds of years for their specific look, temperament and ability, it's more likely.

There is also a greater chance, that if you buy from an ANKC registered breeder, or even a BYBer who knows well and understands a certain breed, that you will also get some back up support.

It's not be sheer luck, that pedigree dogs are not found in huge numbers in pounds.

As a breeder, I'm certainly not afraid of a level playing field and certainly laws that apply to one, should apply to another but when you really get down to it, many of the laws enacted are not in the best interests of my dogs or breeding programs.

[Leema]

As promised, here are my thoughts.

My major concerns about the Queensland breeders permit scheme:

1) Doing away with hobby breeders

This legislation is clearly trying to ‘clean up’ the acts of puppy-mill like facilities. Sadly, this has also meant disallowing hobby breeders to raise animals in their home. In sections of the permit scheme, the housing and hygiene sections describe environments which would only be achievable in kennels. Though this may be hygienic, many behaviourist would argue that a home environment (with TVs, pots and pans, beepers and slamming doors) is a far more psychologically-sound place to raise puppies than a kennel block.

Furthermore, this scheme impacts on the finances of breeders. For those breeding responsibly, financial rewards are few to nil. For irresponsible breeders, financial rewards are their motivation for breeding. Responsible breeders are expected to pay for an expensive permit, when they are unlikely to be making a profit in the first place. The problem establishments, breeding a large number of puppies in an unethical way, will have a significant income that would cover the costs of the permit.

So, firstly, these scheme ultimately ‘does away with’ the hobby breeders, by creating hygiene and housing standards beyond their scope, and introducing a permit scheme that is likely to drive them from their responsible breeding practice.

2) Enforcement issues not addressed

As many legislative policies, they sound nice in theory, but the proof is in enforcement. The permit scheme raises many questions to me:

• How will the scheme be enforced?

• Who will enforce it?

• How will enforcement be funded?

• What are the penalties for non compliance?

Importantly, what can be gained from the permit scheme that cannot be gained from enforcement of existing microchipping and welfare standards?

3) Advocacy of early age desexing

This permit scheme seems to advocate early age desexing of dogs. As the Report on the Validity and Usefulness of Early Age Desexing in Dogs and Cats (http://www.uq.edu.au/ccah/docs/15309finalreport.pdf) links urinary incontinence and hip dysplasia to early age desexing in puppies, it seems like a potential welfare problem.

On a lesser note, I do not support notions regarding restricting owner choice in keeping an animal entire and the number of litters that that animal should have. These are lesser concerns in the grand scheme of the plan.