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 the ALV open rescue team 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. ALV open rescue team 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. ALV 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 ALV’s Openrescue 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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!
In memory of the Fab Four Dachshunds who were rescued from Strathbogie, I still hold the faith that justice will one day be theirs and that the truth will surface.
I have sat on this for a few days trying to comprehend the injustice of it all. This case highlights that there is something very very wrong with the current system of so called “animal protection” in this country.
How authorities can return a very obviously neglected dog to the perpetrators of this crime simply astounds me.
And there is something seriously wrong inside the RSPCA.
The legislators who create ineffective systems need to get out from behind their desk and take a good hard look at what is really going on.
Thankyou all for taking personal risks, for putting it all on the line. We, the public, have a right to know what is being hidden from us.
Peter you are so right, this is traumatic and to difficult to understand.
When are the authorities going to take animal cruelty seriously!
To much conflict of interest happening if you ask me!
When you have a deep passion for people or animals you really arn’t faced with a choice in a situation like this, you just do what you know is right. Laws are in place supposedly to protect people and animals, this is an obvious case where the law actually harmed the animal.
When you witness abuse you have an obligation to intervene.
Debra, Patty and co, your sacrifices will always be remembered.
Oscar’s Law will be your legacy
SINCE WHEN DID COMPASSION BECOME A CRIME !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.
-William Penn
This coming weekend is a time of deep and emotional reflection for all Australians, for all of us in Victoria, and for me personally. This is the first anniversary of the 7 February firestorm bushfires which claimed 173 lives, left 7,000 homeless, destroyed half a million hectares of bushland and killed many companion animals, cattle, sheep and wildlife. Firestorms so ferocious, they could kill from 200 metres and they did. Many of us watched towns obliterated and complete and utter devastation all around us.
When faced with such a threat the human spirit rises to protect and preserve what is most precious to us – our family, our pets even our photos. My instincts were – protect my dogs at any cost and I was lucky and was able to. Many were not.
Animal welfare is also an instinctive drive that is either there or it is not. It is very black and white and you do, what you need to do, regardless. You don’t hesitate, you don’t waver, you don’t sit on the fence. You protect and preserve with every ounce of inner substance you have – regardless of the personal consequences.
All these dogs need human advocates with instinct, integrity, guts and commitment – anything less is just short changing the dogs at risk.
“The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous, is his dog.”
George Graham Vest
This is heartbreaking. Why did the police return that dog? They didnt have to do that. Animal cruelty just isnt one of their priorities obvioulsy. They dont even know cruelty when its staring them in the face.
This is so sad and horrible. Puppy farms, BYB, pet shops must be shut down.
History has proven there are many people who will conform to societal laws irrespective of the resultant cruelty. Those who turn a blind eye to the suffering of animals are just as guilty as the actual abusers of these non-human animals.
A system which allowed Oscar to be returned to his abusers will inevitably fail to advocate for a neglected child / disabled non-verbal adult.
Would you trust the person who was able to hold little Oscar in her/his arms and then pass him back to the cruel puppy farmer to advocate for your child ?
The sick side of human nature thrives on holding power over the vulnerable; these characters would rather ‘throw the book’ at the gentle souls who seek to save & protect than to prosecute the cruel abuser.
Glad to see another person has the courage to stand up to Beverley Manners and Rutland Manor’s treatment of dogs.
Rutland Manors should be shut down for good.
Mr. Brumby and Mr. Baillieu if you read these comments wake up to yourselves and implement Oscar’s Law.
In New South Wales we have Clover Moore’s Animal Bill, which has been defeated twice, but we will never give up until there are no more puppy farms, BYB’s and non-rescue animals in pet shops.