It’s dim, tight and cold. Inside a tiny worn out metal cage lies a group of new-born puppies enduring a difficult sleep.

When they wake up, all that meets them is neglect, deprivation and cruelty. 

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This is a puppy farm, also known as puppy factory or mill, where puppies are mass-bred from dogs in confined, overcrowded and unhygienic environments. 

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In Western Australia, there remains a largely underground movement of indiscriminate and unregistered dog breeding. The newly elected state government has put together a policy that anticipates to eradicate the elicit industry. It includes mandatory standards for breeding, a state-wide breeder registration system and a new ground-breaking pet shop business model.

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Maylands Labor MP Lisa Baker says the policy is a synopsis of facts and shocking evidence, which they gathered from a 2012 discussion paper on strengthening animal welfare.

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“When you see that the Labor party now has a policy to stop puppy farming, it’s extremely well researched and evidence based,” Baker says. “It’s not something we pulled out of the air.”

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Puppy farms tend to be large-scale commercial operations, although smaller backyard breeding establishments also have a range of welfare issues and lead to the oversupply of dogs. In August 2016, the RSPCA seized twenty-two puppies and seven dogs from the backyard of a Perth southern suburbs home, after they were left unsterilised triggering an out-of-control environment. 

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“I don’t think it’s acceptable in this day and age to just indiscriminately breed dogs for no purpose,” RSPCA WA president Lynne Bradshaw says. 

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Poor backyard breeding practices can produce genetic weaknesses, mutations and behavioural problems in puppies. Bradshaw’s 10-year-old mongrel rescue dog fits into this category. Dennis was one of 58 puppies farmed inside a Kombi van by an indiscriminate breeder. Consequently, the breeding left the puppies with agonising weaknesses.

 

“He’s got terrible hips and all sorts of problems with his bones,” Bradshaw tells me. “[The veterinarians] can’t do anything for his hips.” 

 

WA has no legal guidelines to protect the health and welfare of puppies and dogs sold commercially through pet shops and online trading sites, however the policy will include mandatory standards for the breeding, housing, and sale of dogs.

 

The founder of Oscar’s Law, an anti-puppy farming activist group, Debra Tranter says the present-day absence of mandatory standards and a code of ethics in WA is “terrible”. 

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“You can go into these puppy factories and you’ve got nothing to measure it against,” Tranter says.

 

“It’s absolutely vital that you have mandatory standards and a code of practice, so when authorities go in and investigate these puppy factories they’ve actually got something to order it against. 

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“At the moment, it’s free reign you can do anything you want.” 

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In the absence of guidelines in Western Australia, Dogs West, a professional dog breeding membership group, promotes sound breeding and the protection of pure-bred dogs through a code of ethics and issuing mandatory standards amongst its members. 

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Dogs West president Pamela Campbell says they charge members who break their code of ethics or break their breeding regulations.

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“We have actually only recently even further strengthened our regulations,” Campbell says. “Now all of members upon joining or renewing their membership now have to agree to the right of an inspection. “If we have a query or a concern we can visit their premises. We haven’t had that before.”  

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The association is concerned with the practices of unregistered breeders, who choose to farm a large number of puppies simply for an income. 

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“The people who are doing this in bulk and under the radar, are the people who are going to try and continue to disobey it of course. That’s the greatest concern,” Campbell says.  

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Unregistered dog breeding is proceeding at an alarming rate. The Australian National Kennel Council Ltd (ANKC) says their breeders registered 71,361 puppies in 2016, but approximately 408,639 puppies were bred by people outside of the ANKC Ltd.  

In response, the state government aims to introduce a compulsory state-wide breeder registration system to prevent unscrupulous breeders and pet shops from selling puppies that are sick or unwell. 

 

Tranter says it is crucial for that level of consumer protection to be offered to probable puppy buyers at this stage. 

 

“You can buy a puppy on a trading post on gumtree and you have got no idea who breed that puppy and whether they’re a registered business or not,” she says. But by having a centralised data system of breeder identification numbers, where such online ads must display the breeder’s ID, Tranter says if anything goes wrong with the puppy its buyer will be able to contact the local council and quote that particular breeder. 

 

“The council can get around to that property and check out the parents of that puppy and the conditions.” 

 

No current data exists in Western Australia on the number of puppy farms and backyard breeding establishments. This is due to the industry’s unregulated and undercover nature, “There could be plenty more you just don’t know [about],” Tranter says. 

 

The interstate supply chain is an additional challenge, because certain pet shops and backyard dealers happen to secure puppies from interstate puppy farms. In the process, dogs are transported in poor conditions and they often don’t receive formal health checks. In June 2015, Mt Lawley Pets & Puppies was brought to the attention, after an English Staffordshire Terrier they sourced from a New South Wales puppy farm subsequently collapsed in front of its new owner and had to be euthanized.  

 

Baker says the interstate supply chain cannot be stopped immediately, but it can be reduced. 

 

“The introduction of an overall registration scheme for anyone who breeds dogs will be a significant contributor to slowing this down,” she says. 

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Irresponsible breeding contributes to the unwanted dog population in the Western Australia community, therefore the state government requires pet shops to only sell dogs from registered breeders or reputable rescue organisations. Whereas consumers wanting to purchase a specific breed of dog will be able to deal directly with registered breeders, such as Dogs West. 

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The United States has stopped puppy farming for good. In 2006, Albuquerque, New Mexico become the first city to prohibit the sale of farmed puppies in pet shops. Between 2007 and 2010 it had achieved a 59 per cent decrease in its euthanasia rate.

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Whilst changes to state legislation are approved and a compulsory breeder registration system is implemented, Baker says they will urge pet shops to work with registered shelters and local governments on transitioning to the new business model. 

“We don’t want pet shops to go out of business. We want pet shops to sell abandoned, unwanted or rescued dogs, because they are the ones that need rehoming.” 

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On any given day in WA there is a minimum of 500 puppies and dogs available for adoption.

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I can hear dogs yapping for miles away, while I walk through the airy grounds of the RSPCA WA facility. Behind its office building, I arrive at the ‘open for adoption’ pens which are individually occupied by a heart-warming puppy or dog in need of a loving home. Immediately, my presence excites an enthusiastic two-month-old brown-brittle Staffordshire Bull Terrier and I cannot help but kneel down to the ground to greet her. There, I am met with a small nibble on the finger and I get the impression that she is rather mischievous, despite her innocent gaze. 

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Bradshaw says we must reduce the stigma around rehoming a rescue dog and make adoption the first choice among prospective puppy buyers. 

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“What we need to be able to do as an organisation is really convince the public that a shelter dog is a great dog,” she says. 

 

“They don’t all have issues and they don’t all need a

lot of work. They have just found themselves in this shelter through no fault of their own.”

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So what does the future hold for dogs in Western Australia? 

 

The state government recognises that this pet shop industry cannot be abolished easily or quickly, but the introduction of mandatory standards and a state-wide registration system will result in more responsible breeding practices. 

 

Shortly, an advisory panel of experts will be appointed by the state government to provide them with advice on the implementation of the policy. The panel will be asked to establish the best model for administering a centralised registration system and an appropriate prosecuting agency for fines enforcement, cost and interim prohibition orders. According to Baker, their work will most likely be completed within the next two years.