The RSPCA now includes an information page advising of the dangers of puppy mills. From their site;

Many of the puppies are sold through pet shops, the internet, newspaper ads, or at the puppy farm itself. Some puppy farms actually operate the pet shops in addition to their farm where they then sell their puppies to an unsuspecting public.

The breeders and pet shops rely on the public “falling in love” with the cute little puppy in the window and buying it on a whim.

The RSPCA will continue to lobby government to amend laws to have these puppy farms banned. We also conduct campaigns to encourage the public not to purchase puppies or other pets from pet shops and instead consider adopting animals from animal shelters or responsible breeders.

To check out the full information visit the RSPCA ACT website.

It seems simple, but here’s the thing; consumer behaviour drives change far more effectively than lobbying for legislative solutions.


So when it comes to pet stores we have to remember these are businesses and profits matter. But while we boycott their stores, many are still unaware why they are losing customers. We have to spell it out.

Introducing the Where do puppies come from?
Pet store feedback card


Dozens of people dropping in feedback cards will speak volumes to the store owners about the wishes of their customers.


Drop it off politely directly to the store, or post it to them. Include as much or as little contact information as you’re comfortable with. We’ll be hitting the media over the next few days just asking people; if this is something you care about tell your local pet store directly.

They can take their cards and look for more information (get better educated on the issue), or they can go one step further – change their policies and be promoted via the Where do puppies come from? website. We’ll even help them reach their local media!

Encourage store owners to make the change and get pets out of stores – it’s good for business, it’s good for communities and
it’s very, very good for pets.

First it was Oprah.


Now, a new Nickelodeon and Dreamworks movie Hotel for Dogs due out in January;

This husky spent her whole life having babies for a puppy mill that sold puppies to pet stores.


When she couldn’t have any more puppies, instead of letting her retire in comfort, the puppy mill just dumped her. In her new home, she’s going to finally get the pampering she deserves, like any hard-working mother should. She’ll get her hair done, her nails clipped, lots of naps and tasty treats.

Its official – the connection between pet shops and puppy mills is now common knowledge. And no amount of media spin or political lobbying will help the groups advocating pet store sales to seem anything but completely unfashionable.


As they say… Elvis has left the building.

When you look closely at these issues it becomes clear that the balance between a conciliatory and a confrontational approach has been weighted so far towards compromise that little has been gained for Australian animals.

RSPCA Australia Chief Scientist, Dr Bidda Jones @ AAWS

Just as groups attempt to get laws passed that reflect the best practice for animal welfare, industry and government can use the promise of change just to keep the peace.

Won’t you just shut up and go away?

Take the Clover Moore bill. I like Clover’s law, I think we’re ready for it. Any civilised society looks back on the history of the way it treated its animals with deep sadness; and I think shipping baby animals like fruit, then selling them from glass boxes to whomever has a whim, will be one of the things that will make future generations ashamed of us.


So news today that, although they’re not ready to ban pet shop sales

Dodgy pet shop owners will face tough new penalties for maltreatment of animals under new state government regulations to be introduced next week. ref

Well, that’s a relief… except didn’t dodgy pet shop owners always face tough penalties for maltreatment of animals? And wasn’t the system failing regardless?


So what are these ‘tough new regulations’?

Minors will also be banned from buying pets under the overhaul, and a mandatory three-day cooling-off period will be introduced to stop impulse buys.

Well, selling to minors is a no-brainer – you would have to truly be satan if you were selling pets to unaccompanied children. But a three day cooling off period neither stops impulse buys (pets are still small and cute after 3 days – they don’t turn into delightfully destructive adolescents until a bit later) or represents anything new, as the code of practice of 12 years ago specifies that a cooling off period should be offered.

So what is this all about?

Simply, this is the pet shop industry’s way of releasing information to make it look like something has happened to change them… all while things stay exactly the same.

Dr Jones cont…
We have reached a stage where animal welfare is firmly on the agenda of governments and industries but while this is a good start, there is still a strong resistance to any meaningful change.

Despite the high profile and public standing of organisations like the RSPCA, when it comes to policy-making, governments listen much more attentively to economic reasons than to ethical ones.

We get what we pay for

Society always moves much faster than any government or industry so if we want the situation to change then it’s up to us.

The way to make pet stores stop selling pets is simple;
never ever shop at a store that sells pets.

The big pet store chains are already moving away from live pet sales due to consumer demand. Pet shops won’t need to be dragged kicking and screaming by any new legislation, they’ll simply fail to thrive unless they meet the needs of their customers.

In the wake of the UK documentary Pedigree Dogs Exposed is certain to be a whole bunch of people looking to get a dog with absolutely no idea what to believe. They thought the right choice was a purebred – now, maybe it isn’t.


You can bet the designer dog breeders will have a clear message for them. Will you be there with your message? Do you even know what your message is?

We’re adding a new section to Where Do Puppies Come From which feature two of the most amazing videos I’ve ever seen.


What to look for in your new puppy; shows the body language differences between socialised and non-socialised puppies and explains the impact a lack of socialisation has on future behaviour. A huge thanks to Gwen Bailey for allowing us to use her info.


In a country where the average age for a dog is 3.5 years and behaviour problems is the number one cause of euthanasia it’s a way to help puppy buyers realise that a good temperament is by far and away the most important trait to look for in their new puppy. Only then will they demand more from the breeders of these dogs.

When we talk about anti-puppy mill campaigns put together by people lobbying for animal welfare, we often expect to see giant posters of abused pets and protesters being asked to leave.


While this obviously gets attention, it’s not a very good way to get the public to trust us. People are more likely to give weight to information that comes from people that seems sensible and who come packing considered material. They’re getting pretty good at ignoring anyone they view as extremists.


But thankfully this ‘in your face’ approach is rapidly being replaced by a new and more effective way of getting the point across. And this is really something I can really get into!

Instead of holding placards and shouting, the protestors at the Beverly Center have sought to educate the public, and peacefully change hearts and minds one person at a time by talking, handing out educational literature, and looping DVDs that expose the cruelty and abhorrent conditions dogs experience at puppy mills.

“It’s a very calm and reasonable approach to educating the public and getting our message out,” Oreck says. “We don’t try to shock. We try to engage in dialogue with the public.”

Imagine the strength of that.

Among the more educated, the message of responsible pet ownership seems to be getting through. Considered pet purchases begin with research, that leads knowledgeable buyers to reputable breeders or rescue. There is an understanding of the importance of desexing and obedience training in avoiding behavioral problems and for the pets and their new owners, the results are often ideal.


Meanwhile a large segment of Australian society that know nothing of dog genetics, behaviour, temperament or socialisation, are churning out puppies by the thousands. These breeders are the antithesis of knowledgeable and responsible. They are the Bogan Breeders.

These profit motivated, novice breeders, flood the weekend newspapers with undesexed and substandard dogs. They focus on the breeds popular with consumers like bull breeds and designer crosses.

Someone who knew her said she bought the dog from the pound, and had no idea what it was. She told me it was an American staffy. I thought it might have been a cattledog cross. She put it to an unpapered Amstaff (which may or may not have been purebred) and advertised the pups as “Purebred American Staffies. $500 each”. People bought them like hot cakes because they believed they were purebred Amstaffs.

The profile of the Bogan Breeder:

• Maintain that breeding their dogs is their ‘right’.




• Have no knowledge of common hereditary diseases in their breed or the pedigree of their dog, just think that their dog is ‘healthy’ because the vet said so.




• Have no knowledge of dog behaviour and have dogs who are under-socialised or aggressive. Breed from them anyway.




• Often haven’t bred before (many Bogan Breeders give up when they find vet costs far outweigh profits). Expect it ‘to all happen naturally’.




• Offer no screening of potential buyers, yet feel all future responsibility lay with new owners.




• Take no responsibility for failed sales and offer no returns policy. Have no interest in the welfare of their animals after sale.




• Often surrender litters to rescue when they can’t sell them.

Unlike responsible breeders who thrive on new information and who are working to better their breeds, the profit motivated Bogan Breeder belligerently defends his ‘right’ to breed his pet, yet makes no effort to learn about dog health or behaviour.

Bretto says:
I can’t believe all you people in welfare are hypocrites and do gooders all you do is attack people who want to breed their dogs but we never asked for your opinion. How do you know these dogs will end up in shelters. You need to understand that the breeder is not responsible for the action of people who buy these dogs and your misguided judgement is not logical you need to direct your anger at the people who dump the dogs because they are the people responsible.

Bogan Breeders add an unmeasurable burden to the pound system whose costs are directly passed on to the taxpayer at an an estimated $120 million per year. In short; they make money and we pay to clean up after them.

How to combat Bogan Breeders

Since they aren’t willing take on responsible pet ownership initiatives or examine their contribution to pet overpopulation, what can we do to remove the Bogan Breeders from our communities?

We can remove their main motivation for breeding; profit.

Educating the public on how to carefully screen anyone selling pets will make it harder for them to sell their wares.


Rescue should advertise alongside Bogan Breeders without fear of reprisals from other rescue groups. Our ads should feature particular animals, rather than a general call to our visit our rescue. And we should examine the advertisements they use to attract buyer and replicate them for our own pets.


Rescue should tap into the ‘designer dog’ naming structure (ie. calling a poodle cross and labradoodle). Rather than encouraging designer breeding as is the common fear, this will actually reduce the ‘magical power’ of these names by attributing them to ‘common’ rescue dogs. Paying thousands for a dog that can be found in the pound will make them seem foolish instead of fashionable.

Instead of efforts to distance ourselves from Bogan Breeders, we must put ourselves visibly right alongside them. It’s only when uneducated consumers are given the chance to be educated by us, will we wipe out the noxious Bogan Breeder.

The Pet Industry is celebrating, claiming they’ve won the ‘pet shop battle’ with Clover Moore’s current bill failing to make it to parliament;

On 26th June the Clover Moore “Animals (Regulation of Sale) Bill 2007” came to a very silent death – so silent in fact that her supporters are still out there seeking support.

Meanwhile, I’m compiling the list of feedback we’ve received since launching Where Do Puppies Come From? a little over a week ago.


The ‘Pet Shops Stars’ initiative; a way for the community to heap praise on those stores who don’t sell pets, has seen a pile of pet shops put forward… and this feedback shows an unmistakable, common theme.

There are no live puppies or kittens for sale. The day they ever do my money goes elsewhere.

I always travel the extra few kilometres to purchase my pet products from them.

I can’t speak highly enough about them–they respect and love animals and I recommend them to everyone.

I always patronise Petstock Ballarat as they do not sell pups or kittens in their stores.

I am always on the hunt for pet shops who are demonstrating responsible ownership of pets.

While the pet industry might be patting themselves on the back for gathering support in parliament, are they actually listening to the people who really matter – their public?


Where Do Puppies Come From? is only one small part of a very large wheel that has begun to turn; informed Australians simply do not accept that pets should be sold as retail items. Any smart business person would be ahead of this consumer evolution and anticipate this change in behaviour.


Cue stores like Pet Stock. These guys are a national franchise who don’t sell puppies and kittens. They realise that getting pets out of stores and working instead with rescue to hold adoption events is not only more ethical, but pretty soon is going to be what is demanded by customers. And they’ve got the jump on it.


These guys are the pet shop of the future. In 20 years time we’ll look back and think “wasn’t it quaint that we thought it ok to farm dogs and distribute them through glass boxes in shopping malls” in the same way we look back at a lot of the things our grandparents did and quietly think “really? How could you possibly think that was ok?”


It is expected a new Bill will be introduced in September and with that the battle amongst the lobbyists will begin all over again. But in the meantime we’ll keep on spreading the truth to the people who really matter – the public – and the changes will come about whether Clover says they should or not.

When we launched Where Do Puppies Come From? we focused on the few things people can do to check out a breeder before they buy (visit their premises, don’t buy if you can’t meet the parent dogs, don’t shop on the internet etc).


So what I’ve seen today is a double whammy for both us and dog kind. See the ninemsn homepage from this morning (right). The most common search terms in Australia right now are “labradoodle” and “cavoodle” with the link at the bottom taking you to search results which feature some of the biggest bulk dog farmers in Australia. The public, who simply don’t know any better will find this kind of mainstream exposure, legitifies internet purchased, designer oodles.


While Where Do Puppies Come From’s advertising campaign has been a bit rocky to date, we are trying. But where is the mainstream AKC campaign promoting healthy, stable companion animals?


Meanwhile the puppy farmer’s message is loud and clear – buy from us.