I will probably be criticised heavily for this post but for what its worth, I have always supported registered breeders, I still do. What I don’t support is the management committees overseeing the organisations that registers the breeders. In my opinion they are there to protect the organisation at any cost, even if it means animals are left to suffer. The priorities of one state organisation, Dogs Victoria, were made clear in a recent advertisement for a Field Officer

Where a member is under pressure from or has problems with the Local Council, the RSPCA, the media or other groups, it shall be the responsibility of the Field Officer to investigate the situation and report to the Management Committee of DOGS Victoria as to

• How the member can be assisted? (if justified)
• What advice can be given to the member
• How to use the media to DV’s advantage and also limit collateral damage from the media

The position description does mention the words ‘animal welfare’, once. It goes on to state

“Where a member is accused of cruelty, neglect or other improper conduct, to attend at the scene and, where justified,  to protect the interests of the dogs concerned and the member”.

If your focus is on limiting collateral damage from the media then your focus is wrong.

In my opinion the ‘interests of the dogs concerned ‘ is rarely addressed, whilst ‘the member’ is always protected and as above the ‘collateral damage’ is limited.

12 months ago I received a tip off about a registered breeder in Curdievale. It sounded terrible so I agreed to head down there with a team to investigate. What we found was typical of any puppy factory set up, far from what you would expect from a registered Dogs Victoria breeder. Little dogs living in small filthy pens, no warm bedding, raised beds rendered useless as they were full of holes, faeces and urine soaked flooring, mouldy food and filthy water. One large breed dog looked to be in terrible discomfort, constantly rubbing the side of its head along the wire of its small pen. I am not a vet, but in my opinion this dog was suffering from painful perforated ear drums, something I have witnessed many times before. A yellowish discharge had been oozing from the dogs ears for quite some time and had formed solid clumps dripping down the dogs neck. All of what we witnessed was vastly different from the breeders own description “…love to run free in their large runs..” and “They also love to sit by the fire at night and watch TV with us”

A complaint was lodged immediately with RSPCA, Local Council and Dogs Victoria, photographs of the conditions were supplied. RSPCA conferred with Council as they could not get there immediately, a constant problem with only 17 inspectors for the entire state of Victoria. A few days later I was advised that the dog with the infected ears had disappeared and that RSPCA were attempting to locate it. Not really the actions you would expect from a registered breeder.

7 months later I received a phone call from Dogs Victoria asking for ‘more information’, apparently it was my word against the breeders. I asked about the dog with the infected ears and was told “its been put down it was old”. Yes, I have regrets…..

Its now 12 months and I am not confident anything has changed, Dogs Victoria and Council ignore all email requests for an update. Of course the breeder could of been de-registered, which I’m sure is comfort to the dogs to know they may not be Dogs Victoria dogs as they circle the putrid pens. The breeder is still listed as a ‘club breeder’ with the Chihuahua Club of Victoria. The breeders daughter, also a registered breeder, lives nearby and continues to exhibit her dogs at many dogs shows around the state, regularly posting photos of winning dogs with their ribbons and trophies. Presumably its all a bit too hard to ensure the dogs down the road at mums place get thrown a warm blanket, a bed without holes or at least have their pen cleaned daily. But then again when we scanned the dogs on the property we found that many of the dogs belonged to the daughter. I guess if the dogs are no longer winning those blue ribbons they are dumped at mums…

This type of neglect will continue to happen until Dogs Victoria management shift their focus from ‘limiting collateral damage’ and start acting as their website describes,  “we act with integrity at all times” . Its what the public except, its what the breeders doing the right thing expect and its what these dogs deserve.

After all its the dogs that are paying their wages.

I wonder if I will get a call from the field officer in an attempt to ‘limit collateral damage’ ……..

The breeders description of the dogs living conditions

 If ya don’t back the fuck off ya might find ya animals shot in the head, ya here me c*^t

Just one of many threatening abusive call I receive , a sign that we are making a difference which is a good thing for these dogs.

The negatives,  the risks and the sacrifices – well that just becomes part of your life, something you just learn to accept and live with.

On 25 Sept 2010 my house was broken into and my computer was hacked and files copied. I disturbed the intruders and they made a hasty retreat out the back door leaving all the files they had opened on the computer screen, all of the information related to puppy factories.

It was a lesson learnt, a new computer and security system were installed, onwards and upwards.

A few years later I received a call to “get out of the house now and take your dogs they have found your address”, and so I did.

Shortly after I moved out of the house for good, then sold it, then moved 3 more times, I’ll probably move again in a few months.

But all of this is nothing compared to what they did to a member of the team, my friend, on the 20th March this year.

My beautiful friend, a gentle softly spoken woman, answered a knock at her door around lunchtime.

Two people stood at her front door, one person with their back to her facing the quiet street.

One person assaulted my friend, in fact they bashed the shit out of her, smashing her in the head, face and upper body whilst holding a blade that slashed through her clothing and cut into her chest.

My friend was knocked to the ground and the bashing continued…..in broad daylight

My friend was warned about her involvement in exposing puppy factories, warned to stay away, then they left her on the doorstep with blood everywhere………..and thats where her daughter found her.

In the following hours, police and ambulance attended, there was talk about the ‘crime scene’ and all the usual stuff took place to start an investigation.

And the police are investigating and we are too. My friend, with so much dignity remained calm whilst we that surrounded her struggled to see her battered bruised and swollen face, struggled to understand how this could happen, cursed and screamed and momentarily lost control, and then we grew stronger. My friend will not be beaten, deterred and has great courage.

When they threaten, intimidate, ridicule, lie and assault,  they think we will be scared enough to stop.

But thats why we keep going, because they don’t see the dogs like we see them, and that’s the problem.

So we just learn to work smarter, work different, leave traps, one person leading this team doesn’t know what the other team are doing, where they are, what they are doing until it becomes public. We learn to play the game, smarter, stronger, wiser, we look out for each other without asking questions, because we just know, we get it.

There are many who just don’t understand and cannot work out why we work the way we do or why we do what we do, perhaps they look at the dogs……….. but don’t see them ?

Battered faces, yes we are all equal in our ability to suffer, some of us choose to just never give up, no matter what.

I want Oscar’s Law

How timely that Peter Walsh and the Coalition Government announced today that they will be handing out cash grants to rescue groups, shelters and foster networks. It is about time that our annual dog and cat registration fees were put to better use!

Mr Walsh said in Opposition the Coalition promised to donate the proceeds from penalties, fines and seizures from illegal puppy farms to animal welfare agencies.

“Given that may be unpredictable or insufficient, we have today gone a step further by guaranteeing funding of $400,000 a year for the next four years,” Mr Walsh said.

Translation : The Coalition Government has not shut down one illegal puppy factory since new legislation was introduced, therefore there is no ‘proceeds from penalties, fines and seizures”, best we hand out some cash fast!

How about at least trying to shut down one illegal puppy factory Minister Walsh

I want Oscar’s Law

Dogs are furry four legged humans who deserve the vote, while puppy farmers are two legged brutes who deserve to be neutered. We’re talking about the canine counterpart to the slave trade Phillip Adams The Australian August 2010

Once again the Pet Industry Association of Australia proves how out of touch they are with community concerns regarding puppy factories, pets for sale in shops and animal cruelty.

They openly support and attempt to justify horrific puppy factories by advising the public if the puppy factories are members of PIAA then they are fine.

Now they are advising the public that if you buy a puppy from a pet shop that was born at one of their members puppy factories, like the ones in these photos, that they will rehome it if it gets dumped to ‘save it from euthanasia”. Roger Perkins went on to say that if the public buy a puppy from a pet shop that is a member of PIAA “they are helping to stamp out dodgy puppy farms”. With only 25% of pet shops being members of PIAA this sounds more like a recruitment drive for membership as it will do absolutely nothing to ‘stamp out dodgy puppy farms’, they are all dodgy and should be abolished.

PIAA described this announcement as “a break through in the history of the Pet Industry” proving yet again they are out of touch with society and perhaps just a little bit delusional. Simply by associating with the Australian Association of Pet Dog Breeders should send warning bells to anyone who values the life of our companion animals. AAPDB members include Billabong Creek Puppy Factory and Murray River Puppy Factory ! AAPDB refuse to let the public know there full list of membership, no transparency and public confidence there!

Founder of the AAPDB Kate Schoeffel has a puppy factory but also is a vet that kills dogs at the Council pound, she states

I do not want to contribute to the huge number of unplanned and unwanted puppies which end up being disposed of in Council Pounds and animal shelters.

But Kate is quite happy to mass produce puppies whilst killing them at the Council pound during the day.

And what of the breeding dogs on their members puppy factories, well apparently its still ok to kill them.

On the same day that the Pet Industry announces their history making policy of traceability and rehoming, a distressing photo of the Pet Industry President, Steve Austin is found posted on his own facebook page.

The Pet Industry has refused to take any action and CEO Roger Perkins has actually justified this photo by stating “he was having a bit of fun” he also labeled anyone stating their disgust at this photo as ‘feral’. This photo upset me greatly and I cannot understand why anyone involved in animal welfare could pose for a photo like this.

The Pet Industry Association of Australia support puppy factories, promote retail outlets for puppy factories and backyard breeders, and deem it ‘fun’ to pose for a photo with a dead cat in the most disrespectful way possible.

If feral cats are left roaming, our native wildlife will suffer. However, instead of the immediate response (which is obvioulsy killing those feral cats), lets also look at the root of the problem. To me, that would be undesexed cats. We know this because there are generations of feral cats. Steve Austin and the PIAA not only support but actively promote the sale of undesexed cats in pet stores. For anyone who thinks they are here to make a difference, please take a moment to think about that fact. Undesexed cats being sold via these pet shops to owners who do not need any kind of checks – some of those cats are lost or abandoned. They become feral. They breed ferals. Steve Austin goes to hunt these ferals. Are you feeling dizzy yet cos this merry-go-round of unethical pet sale/ownership will not stop.

I want Oscar’s Law