Stop animal welfare going backwards in Victoria

There is an issue we are incredibly worried about at Banksia Park Puppies, and it appeared in the recent Saturday Age.

Labor has proposed a law which if brought in, will mean animal welfare will go dramatically backwards in Victoria. Professional, ethical, transparent breeders such as us at Banksia Park Puppies will be closed down, but there will be no-one to replace us.

The repercussions of this… where will the puppies come from? The need will be filled by blackmarket puppies; illegal breeders will see a dramatic price inflation and start breeding dogs in cramped, horrible conditions. Victoria is just starting to see all the illegal and substandard breeders close down from the change to make Victoria’s Code of Practice, World Class in it’s requirements.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is worried about this exact issue right now in America, “So here is where the crisis is – when there is a need, the void is usually filled. How do we want the void left by the lack of puppies to be filled? I know one thing we can all agree on, we sure do not want it filled by puppy mills and those who breed with no understanding of the importance of early socialization, proper nutrition and the like.”

Australia, and Victoria in particular, needs to set the world standard for how ethical breeding should be done. Victoria needs to use enforcement and World Class standards for Animal Welfare not prohibition.

At Banksia Park Puppies we urge you to contact the Minister for Agriculture Jaala Pulford (jaala.pulford@parliament.vic.gov.au), and explain that their proposed law is not the solution. Ethical breeders with focus on animal welfare like us at Banksia Park Puppies, need to continue in order to ensure black markets and substandard animal welfare does not occur in Victoria.