Photos Of Pet Shop In Doubt

[Steve]

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/east/knox-pet-shop-lawyer-says-oscars-law-photo-of-puppy-with-no-water-was-taken-at-an-opportune-moment/story-fngnvlxu-1227171855770?nk=167d73c6304f5eb234c925989cd26057

A LAWYER representing a Knox pet shop says a photo showing one of its puppies with no water was taken while the water was being changed.

The photo shows a puppy at Knox Pets Centre, located at Westfield Knox shopping centre, in a glass pen with no water.

It comes as Knox City Council is investigating the pet shop for a number of alleged breaches of the Domestic Animals Act (1994).

Debra Tranter, founder of animal welfare groupOscar’s Law, said she took the photo before demanding the store clean the pen and give the puppy water.

The photo, which Ms Tranter posted on Oscar’s Law’s Facebook Page, then went viral with hundreds of comments slamming the pet shop.

However, the shop’s lawyer Omar El-Hissi said the photo was taken while the water was being changed by staff.

“These puppies are particularly naughty and constantly play with the water bowls and tip the water out. Fresh water was being brought to the pen at this time,” Mr El-Hissi said.

“We note that our client works closely with vets and other professionals in the industry to ensure all animals in the store are well looked after and receive the proper care and attention.”

Mr El-Hissi said Oscar’s Law was attempting to “elicit the wrong inferences” about his client’s treatment of animals by waiting for an opportune moment to take a photograph.

Ms Tranter said she took the photo on December 18 while staff were “chatting at the back of the shop”.

“I totally dispute that this photo was taken as they were about to clean the cages, I had to ask them to clean them,” she said.

“To suggest pens are dirty and puppies do not have clean water because the puppies are ‘particularly naughty’ demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of these puppies’ behavioural and physical needs not to mention the duty of care they have towards the animals in their shop and the requirements in the Code of Practice.”

She said six security guards arrived but she stayed until the shop gave the puppies water and cleaned the cage.

“The problem with pet shops is they take the puppy away from their mother too early — the critical time is birth to 12 weeks,” she said.

“Water and a clean pen are just basic needs of a puppy, but they need even more than that.

“These puppies should still be with their mother.

“A lot of the public are now starting to see beyond the pet shop window.”

A spokeswoman for RSPCA Victoria said it had received a number of complaints about the Knox Pet Centre and had passed them into Knox City Council to investigate any breaches of the Victorian Code of Practice for the Operation of Pet Shops.

The council’s city development director Angelo Kourambas said it was investigating the complaints but couldn’t comment further.

Section 2.3 of the Code requires that all animals at a pet shop have access to fresh cool water at all times, and any breaches of the Code are an offence under the Domestic Animals Act (1994).

Westfield was also contacted for comment.

[sandgrubber]

I wouldn't want to comment further without better facts. Looks like a minefield of prejudice. AR nut. Middle-Eastern owner. Pet shop. Selling puppies in pet shops should be banned. But false accusations -- if the staff were, indeed, changing the water -- are not helpful.

[cavNrott]

I too came across a pet shop (now closed I'm told) in a major shopping centre that had an empty water bowl in the window with the puppies. It was 11am and the store was closed as evidently the girl in charge had left the store for reasons unknown. There were a couple of people looking at the pups through the window and I drew their attention to the empty water bowl.

I went in search of someone in security and asked them if they could get someone with a key to open the store because the pups had no water. They came to the store with me to see for themselves and then went in search of the assistant. By this time there were a number of people standing around the window who were loudly objecting to the pups lack of drinking water.

After we'd been there for half an hour or so the shop assistant returned and I asked her to fill the water bowl. She said the reason there was no water was because she was in the process of replacing the bowl with a clean one with fresh water...how she was doing this when she wasn't even present at the store is a mystery!

Changing the water bowl seems to be a stock standard answer from pet stores when taken to task because the animals have no water.

Sandgrubber where is the prejudice of which you speak? If the pups had no water then good on Debra Tranter for kicking up a fuss. Would you walk away and ignore a window full of pups in pet store who had no drinking water because to bring attention to it might be seen by some people as being prejudicial?

[poochmad]

Hmm a hard one to prove just by photos.

[Loving my Oldies]

Sandgrubber where is the prejudice of which you speak? If the pups had no water then good on Debra Tranter for kicking up a fuss. Would you walk away and ignore a window full of pups in pet store who had no drinking water because to bring attention to it might be seen by some people as being prejudicial?

I was a bit confused at first, too. But I think sandgrubber is intimating (I could be wrong :D ) that there are a heap of contentious issues here that the press could have a field day with.

Frankly, I wouldn't care what a person's nationality and/or culture was, but for a pet shop owner to call puppies particularly naughty shows such ignorance.

As for Debra Tranter being an "AR Nut". Well I wish there were more people like her with the courage to follow through on their convictions.

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

I've been in more than one pet shop and found animals without water, I've asked the same thing - for the attendant to get water asap. In one case they were very very slow so I made a big noise about it - said they hadn't had time since opening (it was 2 hrs after opening) shop full of customers and said I'd be back to check that all cages had water in 10 mins time.

The very best answer to this issue - apart from naming and shaming which I agree totally with - is to shut pet shops down once and for all. These are not good environments for any animals and they generally sell to anyone with the cash.

As a rescuer, I regularly see the results of poor choices.

[Loving my Oldies]

.....and they generally sell to anyone with the cash.

As do pounds.

[Steve]

.....and they generally sell to anyone with the cash.

As do pounds.

And some breeders and some rescues

[Steve]

I wouldnt take as gospel the account of either side and nor could a court or anyone investigating but anyone who is actively working against pet shops and saw that opportunity would take it and if the pet shops don't want to stand accused and have their photos taken when they are exposed then perhaps they had better clean up their systems and ensure as one is taken out for cleaning a new one is back in with no time frame in between.

[Loving my Oldies]

.....and they generally sell to anyone with the cash.

As do pounds.

And some breeders and some rescues

Sadly, yes. Probably more than some.

[Steve]

.....and they generally sell to anyone with the cash.

As do pounds.

And some breeders and some rescues

Sadly, yes. Probably more than some.

Yep I was being politically correct

[_PL_]

.....and they generally sell to anyone with the cash.

As do pounds.

And some breeders and some rescues

Sadly, yes. Probably more than some.

Yep I was being politically correct

You definitely are.

Edited January 6, 2015 by Powerlegs

[Loving my Oldies]

.....and they generally sell to anyone with the cash.

As do pounds.

And some breeders and some rescues

Sadly, yes. Probably more than some.

Yep I was being politically correct

:) :) I realised that.

[Christina]

I don't think pups or kittens should be sold in pet shops at all but the remark that the pups are naughty & play with the water & tip it out isn't showing ignorance of puppies its his way of saying what many pups, including mine, do a lot. Some do it & some don't.

Most pups don't need to be with their mother for 12 weeks either. Most bitches would get pretty fed up with a full litter, especially ones with large litters, running after her trying to feed & putting them all in their place.

Who knows what happened. One word against another but sometimes even adult dogs & cats tip water bowls & owners may not notice for a short period of time, as in if they were in the bath or in the garden etc.

[Loving my Oldies]

I don't think pups or kittens should be sold in pet shops at all but the remark that the pups are naughty & play with the water & tip it out isn't showing ignorance of puppies its his way of saying what many pups, including mine, do a lot.

The point is that they aren't being naughty - they are just being puppies. To me it is the same as people who leave their gates open and then say the dog is naughty for going outside.

If you had a baby just getting up on his/her feet and toddling along, you wouldn't call the baby naughty because he lost his balance plonked down and by so doing knocked something over.

[Malakita]

I was at that Knox City pet store the night before Denra Tranter was there.

All the water bows had minimal amount of water in them, definitely not more than a couple of cms.

The malamute puppy had just had the squirts right in front of us and I went to tell the girl. Other girl very begrudgingly came to clean the diarrhoea. She didn't even clean the glass on which it had squirted onto. We stood there until they cleaned the enclosure.

And yes, the staff are always chatting when I walk past. So they have the time.

Why can't pet shop animas just be banned? It seems simple in theory.

[Christina]

Why can't pet shop animas just be banned? It seems simple in theory.

In theory yes but when new regulations were brought in or proposed the government & RSPCA decided not to ban sales of puppies & kittens as it would be infringing on the rights of the sellers, something to do with freedom of trade & the pet industry association were prepared to battle this legally in court.

Too hard so it got left alone.

[Steve]

If pet shops don't know by now that some people are against them selling live animals and will take every opportunity to catch them out they will never know.

Its 100 % likely to be beaten up and made to sound worse than it was to help the cause and the pup hadnt been out of water for long or it would have been telling everyone it was thirsty but they got caught and they should have seen the potential if that is their system in changing water bowls.

There are water systems which can be raised off the ground which dont get soiled and cant get tipped out and there is no reason what ever to take a water bowl out take it out back clean it put it back in and fill it .What happens if they get caught up with a customer and forget to come back etc . Its not that hard to have a second bowl to drop in as soon as you remove the old one and a watering can at the ready to fill it before you walk away.

So for me whether they were cleaning the bowl and in the process of changing the water or not this is not relevant and not a defence. As a business that sells live animals they need to identify the risk factors, train their staff and put systems in place to be sure its not possible for a puppy to be without water even for half a minute.

[Loving my Oldies]

As a business that sells live animals they need to identify the risk factors, train their staff and put systems in place to be sure its not possible for a puppy to be without water even for half a minute.

In an ideal world, Steve . . . . . .

If the owners don't have a clue, they can't teach anything except cluelessness.

[Steve]

Well part of what the council should do is to tell them they have been spotted and ask what procedures they will introduce to ensure that its not possible to have that happen again.

If what they come back with isn't adequate to be sure its now covered then tell them to try again until they get it right.

Its in their own best interest to pick up their act and learn from it rather than simply mumble about animal rights loonies for the sake of the bad PR for their business and welfare of the animals - puppies who are stressed and die due to dehydration dont make any money either.

You can maybe get away with one mistake but if you dont take action and learn from it no point in trying to defend yourself.

Edited January 6, 2015 by Steve