What is the best way to buy a puppy?
What is considered a backyard breeder?
A backyard breeder is an amateur animal breeder whose breeding is considered substandard, with little or misguided effort towards ethical, selective breeding. … Both groups deny that they contribute to low quality within the registered breed or produce unwanted animals.
Then, in 2017, there was a post on Facebook. A friend sent me a screenshot and asked if the dog was Finn? It wasn’t. The person was looking for a temporary home for her dog, Luna, as her living circumstances had changed.
She is now a girl who shares some of her brother’s foibles. Scared of storms and loud noises, loves to bark when excited and loves to attack her brother in play fighting. She is much more selective in being friends with other dogs but has a couple — one is Zelda the Weimeraner and the other is Jessie the Australian Shepherd. Most others, she reserves her special smile and a growl here and there.
There he was. We were enthralled with his gentle handsomeness and his happy face. The people’s backyard was pretty much a moonscape from his digging. Before we left to see him, I am pretty sure my husband said — ‘Make sure he’s not a digger!” ha ha The reason they were looking to rehome him apparently is because their circumstances had changed — renting, moving, new job, no time, had two young children and he was boisterous.
Just like her brother, Tim, she can balance treats on her nose and catch them; she can open our back door by using the rope so she can come in when she likes; she is great at shaking hands, rolling over, high fives and doubles! She even shares her food with him (not that she wants to!)
His name was Finn. He was 9 months old. They purchased him as a pup from a ‘breeder’ at Woodpark Estate. At the time, that place was breeding beagles, cocker spaniels, golden retrievers, samoyeds, scottish terriers, west highland terriers — particularly crosses called beagliers, samrievers and westiepoos. Yes, they were a puppy farm. The breeder was not ANKC registered. Finn is a Samoyed x Golden Retriever — sometimes called Samriever or Golden Sammy. And bred for good looks. They did a good job in that department!
Dire Warning Over Puppy Farms For Prospective Pet Owners | The Project
Victorian dog breeders are moving their operations over state lines ahead of the Andrews Governments next tranche of proposed laws aimed at cracking down on puppy farms.
One of the states biggest breeders, Banksia Park Puppies, has teamed up with a Melbourne pet shop to buy a half-a-million dollar property to breed dogs in New South Wales, just 30 kilometres over the Victorian border.
The Andrews government intends to introduce legislation that will reform the dog breeding and pet shop industries.
It comes as the government prepares to introduce the second stage of a suite of new laws aimed at stamping out industrial-scale puppy breeding. They include restricting the number of breeding dogs to 10 by 2020, and banning pet stores from selling puppies that do not come from rescue shelters.
The proposed reforms have infuriated some dog breeders and pet shop owners, but the government maintains the changes will impact only a handful of the more than 10,000 registered breeders in Victoria.
Banksia Park owner Matt Hams is campaigning against the legislation, arguing the 150 dogs he breeds in Gippsland are well looked after and that the governments proposal would force his business to shut down.
Mr Hams recently started a new company with Melbourne pet shop owner Nick Croom and the pair have bought 90-acre property north of Cobram in Finley, NSW. Berrigan Shire Council confirmed it has now approved Banksia Parks application to build a “dog breeding facility” for up to 100 dogs at the site.
Animal rights advocates say the move highlights a potential loophole that could allow interstate breeders to sell dogs online to customers in Victoria.
Minister for Agriculture Jaala Pulford said she had been told about “a number of operators who have packed their bags and moved interstate” in anticipation of the new legislation, which is expected to go to parliament before the end of the year.
“That suggests to me that puppy farmers think were going to get this right,” she told Fairfax Media.Advertisement
“There are people who are making a good buck out of this business and will be creative in trying to work around the rules.”
Matt Hams said there were “no plans at the moment” to operate in Finley. “Itll depend completely on the outcome here in Victoria,” he said.
“This is certainly where we want to stay but we have to be realistic about the government policy and the things that are happening within our industry.”
Mr Hams, who is the breeding director of the Pet Industry Association of Australia, said he intended to keep selling puppies but that he would “only ever operate somewhere where we can [do so] in the confines of legislation”.
“The specifics of who we sell to and how we sell will really be dependant on government policy and a lot of factors,” he said.
Pines Pets owner Nick Croom, who only sells dogs supplied by Banksia Park, said his customers would have to drive across the border to buy puppies if the law changed.
“We wont sell online as such,” Mr Croom said. “If the Victorian government get through what theyre talking about we wont be allowed to have a retail shop … so people will have to travel to Finley to view the puppies.”
“If the government turn breeders into amateurs and make them have less than 10 dogs then we wont have a business here.”
Debra Tranter, founder of Oscars Law, said the fact that breeders were moving out of Victoria highlighted the need for consistent laws in all states that were tougher on puppy farmers.
“Mr Hams behaviour has proven two things,” Ms Tranter said. “That the legislation, if passed, will work in closing down Victorian puppy factories, and that we must continue to lobby every state government until we achieve nationally consistent legislation.”
Ms Pulford said the government was keen to capture the growing area of online puppy sales but that stopping breeders in other states was not possible.
“Our legislation will regulate puppy breeding in Victoria and I hope that other states will look at what we are doing and think about their own arrangements, but whats going on in other jurisdictions is beyond our control,” she said.
The Andrews government has already brought in laws that limit breeding dogs to five litters and require pet shops to keep records on every dog and cat it sells. It has also provided $5 million to the RSPCA to set up a unit to investigate and prosecute illegal puppy farms.,