Tasmanian Petshop Puppies Probe

[rachiie]

http://www.themercur...ar-stories.html

THE sale of puppies in pet shops will be examined under a crackdown on puppy farming.

Tamania's Animal Welfare Advisory Committee has been directed to look into the sale of dogs through pet shops as part of a broader investigation into the puppy-farming and puppy-selling industry.

Earlier this week, animal welfare advocates lobbied the State Government to introduce legislation to regulate puppy farming as a way of squeezing out unethical backyard dog breeders.

Both the Dogs' Home of Tasmania and RSPCA said a mandatory licensing system and a restriction on how many puppies could be bred per breeder would help address over-breeding, in-breeding, inherited health conditions and abandonment issues.

Yesterday, Primary Industries Minister Bryan Green asked the AWAC to consider the issue at its board meeting next month.

Mr Green said he would consider the committee's advice before he made any decision about regulating either dog breeding or sales, or both.

The RSPCA said there were many reputable pedigree dog breeders in the industry but the way dogs are bred needed to change.

At some puppy farms, breeding animals are never allowed out of their cage to exercise, socialise or to urinate or defecate.

The most recent puppy farm cases the RSPCA has investigated involved those breeding poodles and chihuahuas.

One of Australia's worst puppy farming cases, which cost the RSPCA more than $1million in vet treatment, food, boarding, medication and legal bills, involved the seizure of more than 100 poodles from a puppy farm south of Brisbane in 2008.

The dogs were found in filthy conditions, with their hair matted with faeces and urine, and most were living in milk crates.

The RSPCA said puppies born on farms often had long-term health and/or behavioural problems because of the conditions in which they were bred, poor maternal nutrition and a lack of adequate socialisation during the crucial first few weeks of life.

Inherited conditions can include retinal atrophy, hip dysplasia and corneal dystrophy.

Ultimately, the RSPCA wants to see puppy farming banned in Tasmania and across Australia through the establishment of a national register to permanently trace a dog to a breeder and all subsequent owners.

It wants enforceable animal welfare legislation introduced which is supported by compulsory minimum standards for both the breeding and sale of dogs.

The RSPCA also wants export provisions for the sale of puppies overseas to be strengthened and for Centrelink and the tax office to be aware of dog breeding as an income-generator.

A dog lover, who watched the puppy she bought from a pet shop die slowly from hereditary kidney disease, has also added her voice to the debate.

Former Hobart woman Rebecca, who did not want to use her last name, bought a $650 shitzu-poodle cross last year.

She expected her new "fur child" to be her companion for a decade or more.

Instead, the dog lover was forced to put Charlie, down at the age of just five months after he suffered acute renal failure, which her vet said was because of hereditary kidney disease.

Rebecca said she had not taken the decision to get a dog lightly.

"You believe after making the decision to commit to having a dog that you are making a lifetime investment," she said.

RSPCA Tasmania president Brett Steele said irresponsible breeding could result in an increased rate of inheritable disorders through lack of genetic diversity.

He said people should not buy a puppy from a pet shop or through the internet or newspaper advertisement without being able to visit its home to check out the conditions is which it was bred.

Mr Steele said the health issues associated with dogs from puppy farms relate more to the breeding rather than the breed of dog.

"But we have done an analysis on our pet insurance statistics and have found that owners of purebred dogs on average spend more time and money at the vet than owners of your average mixed breed," Mr Steele said.

I read this and thought "Great!" up until the last paragraph when I thought "hang on... what a stupid thing to say".

In my opinion, aren't people who buy purebred dogs more likely to have their pet on their insurance? As opposed to the owner of your 'average mixed breed' who probably wouldn't even think to include the dog on their insurance?So no wonder people who buy purebred spend more... because the others don't show up in the figures? Why would you finish an article with those words?

Edited January 16, 2012 by rachiie

[Maddy]

I read this and thought "Great!" up until the last paragraph when I thought "hang on... what a stupid thing to say".

In my opinion, aren't people who buy purebred dogs more likely to have their pet on their insurance? As opposed to the owner of your 'average mixed breed' who probably wouldn't even think to include the dog on their insurance?So no wonder people who buy purebred spend more... because the others don't show up in the figures? Why would you finish an article with those words?

It's the RSPCA Tas

They're shooting themselves in the foot but for whatever reason, don't seem willing or able to understand the issues properly. I think it's very unfortunate that we have to rely on people like this to enforce our animal welfare laws and run our pounds when they're essentially backing puppy farmers and BYBs by giving crossbred dogs the thumbs up.

As for the rest.. meh, I'll believe it when I see it.

The PetBarn here wasn't actually selling puppies so I'd been shopping there a bit- the OH went in on Sunday to pick up some stuff for the hounds and he said they were selling puppies now back to shopping at Animal Tuckerbox..

[Souff]

http://www.themercur...ar-stories.html

Why would you finish an article with those words?

Mmmmmm, because good old (mythical)"hybrid vigour" that keeps dogs away from vets might be a good selling point when it comes to selling crossbred mutts?

I agree with your comment re the owners who are more likely to insure their dogs.

Once you insure, you become part of the statistics that people quote from in articles like this.

Now what is that saying about statistics and lies again?

Souff

[rachiie]

http://www.themercur...ar-stories.html

Why would you finish an article with those words?

Mmmmmm, because good old (mythical)"hybrid vigour" that keeps dogs away from vets might be a good selling point when it comes to selling crossbred mutts?

I agree with your comment re the owners who are more likely to insure their dogs.

Souff

And yet earlier in the article, it talks about a crossbreed mutt that only lived to be 5 months old due to kidney failure. Derrrrrrrr, article.

[Guest lavendergirl]

http://www.themercur...ar-stories.html

THE sale of puppies in pet shops will be examined under a crackdown on puppy farming.

Tamania's Animal Welfare Advisory Committee has been directed to look into the sale of dogs through pet shops as part of a broader investigation into the puppy-farming and puppy-selling industry.

Earlier this week, animal welfare advocates lobbied the State Government to introduce legislation to regulate puppy farming as a way of squeezing out unethical backyard dog breeders.

Both the Dogs' Home of Tasmania and RSPCA said a mandatory licensing system and a restriction on how many puppies could be bred per breeder would help address over-breeding, in-breeding, inherited health conditions and abandonment issues.

Yesterday, Primary Industries Minister Bryan Green asked the AWAC to consider the issue at its board meeting next month.

Mr Green said he would consider the committee's advice before he made any decision about regulating either dog breeding or sales, or both.

The RSPCA said there were many reputable pedigree dog breeders in the industry but the way dogs are bred needed to change.

At some puppy farms, breeding animals are never allowed out of their cage to exercise, socialise or to urinate or defecate.

The most recent puppy farm cases the RSPCA has investigated involved those breeding poodles and chihuahuas.

One of Australia's worst puppy farming cases, which cost the RSPCA more than $1million in vet treatment, food, boarding, medication and legal bills, involved the seizure of more than 100 poodles from a puppy farm south of Brisbane in 2008.

The dogs were found in filthy conditions, with their hair matted with faeces and urine, and most were living in milk crates.

The RSPCA said puppies born on farms often had long-term health and/or behavioural problems because of the conditions in which they were bred, poor maternal nutrition and a lack of adequate socialisation during the crucial first few weeks of life.

Inherited conditions can include retinal atrophy, hip dysplasia and corneal dystrophy.

Ultimately, the RSPCA wants to see puppy farming banned in Tasmania and across Australia through the establishment of a national register to permanently trace a dog to a breeder and all subsequent owners.

It wants enforceable animal welfare legislation introduced which is supported by compulsory minimum standards for both the breeding and sale of dogs.

The RSPCA also wants export provisions for the sale of puppies overseas to be strengthened and for Centrelink and the tax office to be aware of dog breeding as an income-generator.

A dog lover, who watched the puppy she bought from a pet shop die slowly from hereditary kidney disease, has also added her voice to the debate.

Former Hobart woman Rebecca, who did not want to use her last name, bought a $650 shitzu-poodle cross last year.

She expected her new "fur child" to be her companion for a decade or more.

Instead, the dog lover was forced to put Charlie, down at the age of just five months after he suffered acute renal failure, which her vet said was because of hereditary kidney disease.

Rebecca said she had not taken the decision to get a dog lightly.

"You believe after making the decision to commit to having a dog that you are making a lifetime investment," she said.

RSPCA Tasmania president Brett Steele said irresponsible breeding could result in an increased rate of inheritable disorders through lack of genetic diversity.

He said people should not buy a puppy from a pet shop or through the internet or newspaper advertisement without being able to visit its home to check out the conditions is which it was bred.

Mr Steele said the health issues associated with dogs from puppy farms relate more to the breeding rather than the breed of dog.

"But we have done an analysis on our pet insurance statistics and have found that owners of purebred dogs on average spend more time and money at the vet than owners of your average mixed breed," Mr Steele said.

I read this and thought "Great!" up until the last paragraph when I thought "hang on... what a stupid thing to say".

In my opinion, aren't people who buy purebred dogs more likely to have their pet on their insurance? As opposed to the owner of your 'average mixed breed' who probably wouldn't even think to include the dog on their insurance?So no wonder people who buy purebred spend more... because the others don't show up in the figures? Why would you finish an article with those words?

Oh c'mon thats a bit of a presumption - implying that owners of cross-breeds don't care as much for their dogs as owners of pure breeds.

[Roova]

"But we have done an analysis on our pet insurance statistics and have found that owners of purebred dogs on average spend more time and money at the vet than owners of your average mixed breed," Mr Steele said.

They also haven't stated what type of Vet visits were had by the purebred dog owners and if all those visits were claimable, ie accident or emergencies which could be misleading.

If more people with purebred dogs have appropriate checkups, get their dogs desexed and vaccinate when its due that's going to obviously mean they'll be spending more at vets. Im reading into it that the inferance is the vists are because of poor health but that might not be the case at all!

[sandgrubber]

"But we have done an analysis on our pet insurance statistics and have found that owners of purebred dogs on average spend more time and money at the vet than owners of your average mixed breed," Mr Steele said.

The better response to this is "SHOW ME THE NUMBERS". They are worth knowing!

I've been looking all over the place for insurance statistics on vet costs by breed . . . to make a case that the much-maligned pug is actually fairly healthy.

The only thing I can come up with is PetPlan's 10 most expensive breed list, which is US based: http://www.mainstreet.com/slideshow/smart-spending/10-dogs-priciest-vet-bills (The ranking from most to least expensive of the top ten is: American Bulldog, Burnese Mountain Dog, Rotweiler, Samoyed, AmStaff, APBT, Frenchie, Basset, Akita, and Great Dane . . . the costs seem to be skewed by the high cost of a few procedures . . . eg, cancer treatment, bloat, removal of foreign objects from stomach/intestine, HD surgery, and cruciate ligament surgery . . . breeds that aren't prone to any of these are likely to have lower vet bills . . . mutts . . . depends on the mutt).

[Souff]

"But we have done an analysis on our pet insurance statistics and have found that owners of purebred dogs on average spend more time and money at the vet than owners of your average mixed breed," Mr Steele said.

The better response to this is "SHOW ME THE NUMBERS". They are worth knowing!

I've been looking all over the place for insurance statistics on vet costs by breed . . . to make a case that the much-maligned pug is actually fairly healthy.

The only thing I can come up with is PetPlan's 10 most expensive breed list, which is US based: http://www.mainstreet.com/slideshow/smart-spending/10-dogs-priciest-vet-bills (The ranking from most to least expensive of the top ten is: American Bulldog, Burnese Mountain Dog, Rotweiler, Samoyed, AmStaff, APBT, Frenchie, Basset, Akita, and Great Dane . . . the costs seem to be skewed by the high cost of a few procedures . . . eg, cancer treatment, bloat, removal of foreign objects from stomach/intestine, HD surgery, and cruciate ligament surgery . . . breeds that aren't prone to any of these are likely to have lower vet bills . . . mutts . . . depends on the mutt).

It would be very interesting to see the insurance companies stats on how many ops were obstructions caused by foreign objects and stuck bones, or from road accident injuries.

I suspect that accidents would feature highly in insurance claims.

Souff

[rachiie]

Oh c'mon thats a bit of a presumption - implying that owners of cross-breeds don't care as much for their dogs as owners of pure breeds.

That's not what I'm implying. If I meant that, I would say that.

I said they wouldn't think to include their dog. i.e. Up until a few years ago, I would never have thought a dog could get an insurance policy.