Pet Industry Peak Body In Turmoil After Consumers Misled

[Steve]

I am a pet shop owner and I categorically state that ignorance is not an excuse, it is my Industry and those in it must be responsible for their own decisions and actions. I am sorry but if you are getting a regular invoice/supply of product (puppies) you know damn well that they are coming from a business. Invoices have ABN's which can be searched etc and if you have a business name and ABN on an invoice you know it is a BUSINESS.

So - is it better for a pet shop to purchase animals which dont come from someone who operates their breeding activities as a business? Keep in mind when the relationship between breeder and pet shop began the breeder was a registered breeder

with DogsNSW and they were able to sell puppies to PIAA pet shops via their code of ethics. Many great registered breeders have an ABN and run their breeding activities as a business and some of them only have a couple of dogs on their property with lots of others in guardian homes.

I would have thought it was safer for a pet shop owner to purchase puppies from a source they trusted to consistently supply happy and healthy puppies rather than simply spot for backyard breeders, or those who operate without declaring the money .

Honestly - objectively. The stated problem appears to be that pet shops purchase puppies from people who breed puppies in poor factory type conditions. So what is the solution if pet shops are to continue to sell live animals?

Exactly what is it they need to tick or cross off when choosing someone to supply them with puppies? If the CCs have to occasionally chuck someone out and have to deal with complaints every day of the week about their breeders how can a pet shop do better than them in choosing a source for their puppies?

Personally I think if someone cares so little for what comes next for their puppies and they prefer to remain anon to the families who will live with them - take a much lesser price in order to sell them in bulk - that's a big enough cross.

But given its still going to continue- realistically- how could a pet shop choose a source for their puppies and not end up in the poo?

This one chose a CC registered breeder, who consistently supplied thousands of puppies over a long period of time which were happy and healthy - One pup died 18 days after it left the breeder from causes which were not able to be controlled by the breeder and which could happen to anyone.

The breeder is accused of being pretty rotten but is still breeding and selling puppies, copped a couple of fines and doing as they are told and life goes on.

The next problem is that if we stop the sales of puppies in pet shops how do we then stop people buying the same puppies from the same breeders direct or via other sources anyway?

[Sheridan]

A practical view: a pet shop owner can choose to be of good ethics and not sell animals or a pet shop owner can choose to be an un scrupulous arsehat.

[Pjrt]

It is a bind.

Personally I am as much against the "nice big shiny registered commercial puppy breeding facility" as I am the "filthy dirty puppy factory" because nothing can take away the fact that the breeding dogs are kept in wharehoused conditions, be they clean and well staffed, or filthy and neglected.

I also agree that banning pet shop sales, while sounding great, may just drive it even further behind closed doors, or open a bigger market for bob and Mary down the street to breed litter after litter in their back yard from dogs with crook knees, cabriolet legs, crappy bites, etc etc, because 'they're so cute everyone should have one"

I think Sheridan is on to something...... Let the pet shops decide, and be judged on their decision.

Only problem with that is we have the likes of PIAA member stores telling customers that their puppies are from 'registered breeders' ie- big clean registered puppy factories, and the public fall for it thinking the puppies come from what we here think of as the traditional 'registered breeder"

For the customer at the pet shop to judge the store correctly, we need better education of the puppy buying public. But when that education is loaded via industry associations etc, it's rough for people to cut through the hype to get to the actual truth.

[_PL_]

A practical view: a pet shop owner can choose to be of good ethics and not sell animals or a pet shop owner can choose to be an un scrupulous arsehat.

Yes!

And stopping pet stores selling live animals .... ok so then you give puppy breeders an advantage because they can sell direct? Fix it. We have states who can force someone to get a permit for a second dog then turn around and allow puppy farmers to run absolutely legally with the right paperwork. It's ridiculous.