Puppy factories alarm

March 25th, 2010

Designer dog breeds could be the cruel product of rural Gold Coast operators who are breeding and then killing their 'factory-line' mother dogs.

The RSCPA has reported dogs on illegal puppy farms are being used to create hundreds of pups, each of which sell for up to $1500.

These mothers are continually mated, caged with their pups in their own filth and never allowed out to exercise or play.

The Animal Welfare League public relations manager Gabrielle Wheaton said there were several dodgy puppy farming operations on rural areas of the Gold Coast.

But neither organisation would list a Coast location for the breeding farms.

After breeders used the mothers to produce up to 28 pups a year for up to 14 years, they usually killed the older dog or let her roam free.

RSCPA inspector Sommer Heath-Crilley said most of the popular designer dogs were actually only cross-breeds because at least three generations of cross-breeding were needed for a breed to be termed as official 'designer dogs'.

"If there wasn't such a demand for designer dogs then we wouldn't be seeing this puppy farming," she said.

Ms Heath-Crilley said the designer dogs were originally bred for people with allergies because the poodle hair did not moult.

RSPCA assistant chief inspector Tracey Jackson said the two most recent prosecutions against illegal puppy farming operations had cost the organisation about $2 million in vet fees, rehousing, boarding, investigation and legal action.

The RSCPA has investigated 12 large-scale puppy farming incidents in Queensland in the past 18 months, each action costing up to $1 million each.

Five of 12 cases have been prosecuted.

Mrs Jackson said last year the RSPCA found 160 dogs and 1500 rats and mice on one farm.

Mrs Jackson said future pet buyers should beware when buying dogs from online pet stores, through newspaper advertising or suspicious breeders.

She said buyers should visit the breeder and view the environment the pups were raised in.
 

Reference: www.goldcoast.com.au

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