Pet Shops, Dog Breeders Irate At Cost Of Plan To Stop Puppy Farms

[hankdog]

I can't think I've ever seen a purebred in a pet shop, unless those megabuck mongrels are purebred now.

So let's maybe not get the kids a puppy, let's show them what the puppy looks like grown up because if they don't like it then they're better off not getting a puppy.

Pet shops charge ridiculous amounts, once your average person starts doing some research they'll soon realise what a rip off pet shops are. That's more what they're afraid of methinks.

Edited March 1, 2015 by hankdog

[curly]

I can't think I've ever seen a purebred in a pet shop, unless those megabuck mongrels are purebred now.

our local petshop tried selling purebred Standard Poodles once. The pups sat in the window for weeks before heading back to their breeder. Funny thing, the usual 'oodles (labra-,spoo-, malteser-, scnauzer- etc etc) sell like hot cakes. And often get rehomed by 12 mths old.

Obviously, the sort of people who want purebred dogs don't do petshops, while pet shop people would never go for a pure breed.

[LisaCC]

I've seen a lot of pugs in petshops.

[denali]

I've seen a lot of pugs in petshops.

The one near me always has border collies...

Disaster just waiting to happen. But people must go for them as they come and go and come again quite quickly.

[Steve]

Banning the sale of puppies in pet shops wont make any difference on its own - they will still sell them - the demand hasn't decreased over night because you cant buy a pup from a pet shop.

You will see more small breeders, who can do what they want without notice. If a commercial breeder has a couple of hundred breeding bitches and overnight they have to reduce to 10 [ doubtful] then 20 smaller breeders will take their place or they will be sourced from across the border. Puppies will still be bred, dogs will still be dumped and life will go on. Dogs will still suffer and there will still be dogs treated like crap. If anything, puppies will be cheaper with less people looking to make their fortune and having to cover costs to comply with infa structure more looking for pocket money. Not sure a whole bigger bunch of BYB who know nothing about diseases and the basics of dog breeding is the desired outcome. ANKC breeders cant cover the short fall of the puppies that are bred now in big kennels if they shut them down. Someone will.

[Mum to Emma]

I can't think I've ever seen a purebred in a pet shop, unless those megabuck mongrels are purebred now.

our local petshop tried selling purebred Standard Poodles once. The pups sat in the window for weeks before heading back to their breeder. Funny thing, the usual 'oodles (labra-,spoo-, malteser-, scnauzer- etc etc) sell like hot cakes. And often get rehomed by 12 mths old.

Obviously, the sort of people who want purebred dogs don't do petshops, while pet shop people would never go for a pure breed.

Are you kidding?? Said upmarket pets sells the latest trendy purebreds such as cavalier King Charles spaniels, mini poodles, golden retrievers, etc etc. I remember seeing a lab at a pet shop Brandon park shopping centre in Melbourne that literally grew up behind glass. Fortunately that shop has now gone..

[Maddy]

Banning the sale of puppies in pet shops wont make any difference on its own - they will still sell them - the demand hasn't decreased over night because you cant buy a pup from a pet shop.

You will see more small breeders, who can do what they want without notice. If a commercial breeder has a couple of hundred breeding bitches and overnight they have to reduce to 10 [ doubtful] then 20 smaller breeders will take their place or they will be sourced from across the border. Puppies will still be bred, dogs will still be dumped and life will go on. Dogs will still suffer and there will still be dogs treated like crap. If anything, puppies will be cheaper with less people looking to make their fortune and having to cover costs to comply with infa structure more looking for pocket money. Not sure a whole bigger bunch of BYB who know nothing about diseases and the basics of dog breeding is the desired outcome. ANKC breeders cant cover the short fall of the puppies that are bred now in big kennels if they shut them down. Someone will.

I'm not convinced puppy farms are actually breeding especially healthy dogs though.

In terms of overall quality, BYBs and puppy farms are probably pretty close. The difference, as far as welfare is concerned, is that backyards are probably going to be healthier and more stimulating environments than concrete pens in a huge shed full of other dogs.

On the topic of BYBers.. I'd guess more dogs come from that source than puppy farms/pet shops anyway so I doubt this legislation will change much.

[melzawelza]

Purely personal opinion here but in the welfare work we do we see a lot of 'backyard breeders' (either intentional or accidental).

I'd say on the whole those dogs are a hell of a lot better off than your average puppy farm, even the shiny clean ones. They may not be microchipped when they go half the time but at least they are usually being raised as part of a family away from concrete pens and sterile, understimulating environments. They're DEFINITELY better off than the hell hole puppy farms.

[Brookestar]

While I support the changes, I question what if anything they will really do. Who is going to enforce them is the big question. Laws in VIC changed, a few years ago and all advertisement's must now have the dogs microchip number. So newspapers and internet sites cannot list dogs from VIC without a microchip number. Simple, they put signs on their fences instead. I ring up multiple places to find out who is responsible for policing it. To be told the council. 10 complaints to the council, and all I get is a call from the ranger, telling me they are working the owner to rehome the dogs and once that is done the sign will be taken down!! So rather then supporting the policy, they actively encouraged and supported it. It was 3 months before the sign went down. They were apparently selling purebred Labradors!! I complained to multiple government departments about the councils response, it all fell on deaf ears. Currently anyone with more than 10 breeding dogs must be registered with the local council and they are supposed to do checks to make sure minimum standards are being met, problem is they never do them. Even if the most basic of standards are not being me, all they do is attempt to educate them at most, but most of the time they do not even visit them. Until someone actually enforces the law nothing will change. But I would be more than happy for those mentioned in this article to go out of business.

I was in a pet shop some years ago and some overseas students walked in to get a small quiet dog, to live in their apartment with them. They had been advised by someone to make sure the parents were registered. Clearly they had no idea of what it meant. They were informed that ALL of their dogs were registered with the local council as required by law and that their puppy would also be registered with the local council, when they paid the required fee. The staff didn't lie, they kept saying local council, but I do not think that was the registration, those advising them had given. The small quiet dog they were sold, was an 8 week old kelpie!! It was at the local shelter within 2 months.

[Brookestar]

Purely personal opinion here but in the welfare work we do we see a lot of 'backyard breeders' (either intentional or accidental).

I'd say on the whole those dogs are a hell of a lot better off than your average puppy farm, even the shiny clean ones. They may not be microchipped when they go half the time but at least they are usually being raised as part of a family away from concrete pens and sterile, understimulating environments. They're DEFINITELY better off than the hell hole puppy farms.

That I would agree with and also what I have seen. Not always the case, but on average definitely from what I have seen. Might not be ideal, but I will get rid of those concrete puppy farms without any human interaction, or even sunlight, any day of the week.

[Brookestar]

Also why can't that business guy look at doing rescue adoption drives at his shop? They would bring people in and the rescues can deal with the adoption process ie house check etc.

--Lhok

Can't sell a rescue dog for $4000?

Why not? Dogs of unknown breed mix or background really aren't all that different from factory farmed crossbreeds of dubious quality... except that most rescues have been vetted and deemed safe for adoption...

Plenty of young pups in rescue too... dog knows I fostered enough of them, and that was only for one rescue...

T.

I don't think its about saying they will not be sold, it is about saying, shelters/rescues will not be selling them for $4,000. I've never seen any rescue charge more than $350 for a puppy, and they charge much less for adult dogs. Recues are only about covering costs, not making a profit and it does not cost them $4,000 to cover costs. It doesn't cost a registered breeder of high quality dogs, $4,000 to cover costs of pups.