For almost 20 years we have gathered evidence of the cruelty, suffering and neglect occurring on hundreds of puppy farms spread throughout this country. All evidence we have collected has been sent to RSPCA, Local Government, State Government and the Police and we wait and wait and wait for action that never happens.

Time and time again puppy farm dogs have been abandoned and let down by the Australian authorities responsible for their welfare.  The authorities have funds and resources to expose this cruelty, yet there is no justice for these dogs and it’s left to the small groups of concerned campaigners to inform the public and get help for these defenseless and neglected dogs.

Case One – Strathbogie puppy farm. The dogs on this puppy farm were so neglected that Strathbogie Council paid a vet to kill 17 dogs. The vet deemed the remaining 100 dogs were “unfit for breeding” they were severely malnourished and underweight, they had skin infections and lesions, infected ears, fleas and worms. Council allowed the puppy farmers to continue breeding with these dogs and took no action because

“I do not want to stimulate a huge emotional and public outcry in the community” Stuart Lansley Strathbogie Shire, Manager of Compliance.

The cruelty was covered up by Council, the puppy farmers were never charged, the law was never enforced.

Case Two – ACA Puppy Farm (currently called Banksia Park Puppies) – has been violating the mandatory Code of Practice since 1994. Wellington Council has failed to enforce the Code. When I provided the RSPCA with evidence of dogs being confined with electric fencing wire in September 2009, this was their response:

“Farmers use electric fencing all the time to control stock….”

ACA/Banksia Park puppy farm supply 18 pets shops around Australia and sell online.

The electric fences are still up.

Case Three – KKK puppy farm in South Gippsland. This puppy farm keeps dogs in raised wire cages inside a tin shed. Dogs are forced to give birth straight onto the wire floor of the cage. I gave video evidence to the authorities and pleaded to get the dogs out of the cages. This case ended up at VCAT where all parties argued about the size of the cages, not the dog’s welfare. The court ruled that it was acceptable to keep dogs in raised wire cages as long as the cages were deemed the correct size.

The dogs are still in the cages. Kelly Kesper owner of KKK puppy farm is still selling puppies on line. The video of KKK puppy farm is to the right of the screen.

Case Four – Rutland Manor puppy farm. This puppy farm has also been violating the Code of Practice for the last 16 years. Dogs are bred every season without rest, dogs are purchased from the pound and Trading Post newspaper and given “pedigrees”. Their puppies are sold to an unsuspecting public for thousands of dollars. They are exported to 23 countries. Recently all the dogs on the property were illegally debarked. I provided all the necessary evidence to the authorities.

They failed to take action. Rutland Manor is still exporting dogs all over the world.

Case Five – Early January 2010 my team investigated a puppy farm near Lancefield Victoria. A number of dogs who required urgent veterinary attention were rescued.

The list of ailments the dogs suffered was extensive, including:

Severe matting
Ear infections
Gum disease
Rotten teeth
Grass seed abscesses
Dogs so severely malnourished their irritated skin was like paper
Grossly underweight

Days later approximately 10 police raided my house. They had a search warrant. They seized Oscar (one of the rescued dogs) and returned him to his abusers.

Be a Voice for Puppy Farm Dogs in 2010!

In this Victorian Government election year we are asking you to spend 5 minutes a day lobbying both the Liberal and Labour parties.

1. How much tax payer’s money is being spent on the operation of council run pounds where thousands of dogs are killed every year, simply because they cannot find homes for them?

Every day in Australia a dog is killed every 4 minutes in Council run pounds. We, the tax payer, are paying local Government to kill healthy dogs just because their time limit is up. Meanwhile Local Government is issuing more and more permits to puppy farmers to breed more and more dogs. Local Government are failing to properly inspect these puppy farms or enforce the mandatory Code of Practice.

1. How much money are Local Governments collecting by issuing permits to puppy farmers?

Local Government receive money for each annual renewal of puppy farming permits plus the registration of dogs on these puppy farms.

1. How much money is the State Government and Local Government collecting from annual pet registration fees. What are they doing with this money?

Every pet owner in Victoria is required to pay local Government an annual dog/cat registration fee. This money is meant to provide among other things “Council monitoring of pet shops, boarding kennels, catteries, pounds, shelters, and pet breeding and training businesses. This ensures they meet basic animal welfare standards required by law”.

http://new.dpi.vic.gov.au/pets/

This is misuse of public funds as local and state Governments have failed to use this money to enforce the law at puppy farms and back yard breeders and the breeding dogs are suffering.

How responsible is it to allow the mass production and then the mass killing of companion animals? How effective is the Governments Responsible Pet Program which is financed by the tax payer and pet owner?

Enough is enough, Oscar should never have been returned to his abusers. Thousands of dogs are suffering a lifetime of confinement, neglect and suffering.

We need all of you to SPEND 5 MINUTES A DAY to lobby both the Liberal and Labour parties and tell them we want the factory farming of dogs abolished. We want Oscar’s Law. The current legislation is not working, it has never worked since it was introduced in 1994.

THE SOLUTION – Oscar’s Law

• Abolish the mass production of dogs. Make factory farming of dogs illegal
• Ban the sale of animals from pet shops, online and in print media
• Encourage people to adopt animals from shelters, pounds and rescue organisations
• Work on increasing the re-homing rate in pounds and shelters and introduce the no-kill philosophy which has proven to work in USA. http://www.nokilladvocacycenter.org/
• Commence running a REAL campaign about true and responsible companion animal care

Email, write, phone, fax the Premier of Victoria John Brumby

john.brumby@parliament.vic.gov.au

1 Treasury Place
East Melbourne  VIC  3002
Tel: (03) 9651 5000
Fax: (03) 9651 5054

And the Leader of the Liberal Party Ted Baillieu

ted.baillieu@parliament.vic.gov.au

Phone: (03) 9651 8512

Fax: (03) 9651 8426

Office of the Leader of the Opposition,
Parliament House,
Spring Street,
East Melbourne 3002

In this election year, be a voice for them in 2010! Join OSCAR’S LAW on face book and be part of the solution!

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal has ruled that KKK puppy farm can keep their dogs in the raised wire cages we uncovered over a year ago. It is now officially acceptable to keep dogs the same way we keep battery hens. The dogs welfare is never mentioned in the report which can be viewed here. http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/sinodisp/au/cases/vic/VCAT/2009/2723.html?query=^kesper%20wellington%20shire The courts only concern it seemed was the size of the pens.

We filmed these animals in their cages, we handed over all the evidence to the authorities and pleaded with them to help these dogs and get them out of their cages. It didn’t work. The dogs were never removed from their cages, they were simply left there. The owner of the puppy farm, Kelly Kesper, has continued to breed these dogs and sell their puppies over the internet. Kelly uses a variety of names, a ploy to trick the buyers of her puppies. These dogs will now continue to live their lives in their cages simply to make Kelly money.

Dogs in Australia are no longer deemed companion animals, they are primary producers. Puppy farmers can neglect them to the point that they live in pain with infections, matted fur, rotten teeth, prolapsed uterus’s and confine them with electric wire or throw them in a cage like a battery hen. They live a life of fear, suffering, neglect and when they can no longer produce they are killed.

Its a sad day for animals when puppy farmers are legally able to abuse and neglect their animals and the activists that risk everything to save the animals and highlight their suffering are treated as the criminal.

Please keep spreading the word to never buy a puppy from a pet shop or over the internet. Its not the politicians or their useless legislation that will make the difference. Legislation will never work, it’s the power of the consumer that will ultimately free the hundreds of thousands of dogs hidden away on Australia’s puppy farms. GO TO A POUND, SHELTER OR RESCUE GROUP FOR YOUR NEXT COMPANION ANIMAL AND PUT THE PUPPY FARMERS OUT OF BUSINESS.