When news broke of the brutal bashing of nine puppies in Kurri Kurri, the community uproar was enormous. But in the wake of this tale of animal cruelty a bigger issues has reared its head – backyard breeders. JESSICA BROWN reports.
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Hunter Animal Rescue president Jaimie Abbott can’t hide her outrage.
“I was really disgusted to hear that news last week,” she said.
“We were all really horrified to hear the tragic circumstances of how those puppies were killed.
“We are so distraught because it could so easily have been prevented.”
Ms Abbott is a former politician and animal foster carer, who has two beautiful Labradors of her own.
Her first Labrador, Charlize, was bought from a breeder and, like many people, Ms Abbott knew little about the breeding process or how to check that the breeder was using safe and humane practices.
“After joining Hunter Animal Rescue I realised just how many beautiful healthy dogs and cats are not only ending up in the pounds, but also being put to sleep,” she said.
“Having been involved in Hunter Animal Rescue now for almost eight years, I see so many beautiful dogs and cats end up in pounds around the Hunter Region alone.
“I see Labradors – I’ve got two – and I see beautiful Labradors who are just discarded by people who no longer want an animal.”
After discovering the dark side of the breeding industry, Ms Abbott became a dog foster carer and has also adopted a shelter dog, Mike the Labrador.
Now she is working with Hunter Animal Rescue to shine a light on the issue of backyard breeding.
Hunter Animal Rescue has identified Cessnock and Kurri Kurri as hot spots for backyard breeding and its run-off issue of animal dumping.
“We have seen a huge spike since the Kurri Kurri pound closed down,” Ms Abbott said.
Cessnock City Council closed the Kurri pound in August 2011 after it entered into an agreement with the RSPCA to provide pound facilities for the local government area.
This meant shutting down the old pound site and referring residents to the closest RSPCA premises, which is a 25-minute drive away at Rutherford
“I knew people were not going to drive from Kurri Kurri or Cessnock to Rutherford to surrender their animals,” Ms Abbott said.
“Since the pound closed I have seen a kitten dumped in a letterbox and animals dumped in the bush. Animals have been dumped at the former Kurri Kurri pound site and people have found them.
“They’re the ones that people have found and I hate to think about the other animals that have been dumped or destroyed and not found.”
The kitten found dumped in a Cessnock letterbox in 2010 was just 10 days old.
Named Sapphire, the kitten was shaking and having trouble breathing when an animal rescue volunteer saved her from the letterbox.
The incident was a reminder to animals rescue groups of the enormous task of stopping backyard breeding and finding a better solution
to the huge number of unwanted animals in the Hunter Region.
Veterinarian Marshall Thornton from West Cessnock Veterinary Hospital agreed that Cessnock and Kurri Kurri were home to a large number of backyard breeders.
“There is a lot of stuff we wouldn’t be aware of because a lot of these people don’t use vets,” he said.
“But on Gumtree and Facebook you see these animals all the time and it really came to the fore after those puppies were traumatised and killed last week.”
He said there were many breeders who did the right thing, but there were more who did it wrong.
“It’s not a quick buck if you are going to breed properly,” he said.
“We see a lot of them [backyard breeders] come in a month or so before Christmas with their puppies.
“They do it to make a quick buck before Christmas.
“These puppy farmers keep churning them out litter after litter after litter.”
The veterinary hospital has seen first hand the effects of inhumane puppy breeding, commonly called puppy farming.
The bitches come into heat twice a year, but are only meant to breed once a year.
But bitches on puppy farm are bred twice a year and are often skin and bones when they eventually go to the vet because of the immense impact constant breeding has on their health.
Dr Marshall said pet owners had a responsibility to care for their animals properly, have them vaccinated, microchipped and, when buying, to choose where they buy them from carefully.
“You have to remember these pets would never survive without humans,” he said.
“If there was this zombie apocalypse and all of the animals went feral, most would die.
“It is up to us to take care of them properly.”
Registered breeders can be found at dogsnsw.org.au, but the message coming from the RSPCA is to buy an animal from a shelter or rescue home, rather than pay into the breeding industry.
“We have a pet over-population,” RSPCA NSW Chief Inspector David O’Shannessy said.
“There are too many animals being bred and not enough people being responsible owners.”
The issue the RSPCA faces is being able to police the breeding industry.
The Animal Welfare Code of Practice has very clear breeding guidelines and sets out the responsibilities of pet owners, but finding these backyard puppy farms is the hard part.
“From a regulatory perspective, we only find the people doing the wrong thing as a consequence of someone making a complaint,” he said.
“We appreciate they are out there, but its locating them that’s the issue.
“If people have concerns about a backyard operation we encourage them to report it.”
Reports can be made to the RSPCA by calling 1300 278 3589.
In the meantime, Hunter Animal Rescue is pushing for stricter rules on backyard breeding, the selling of animals and better regulation of the industry.
“Our dogs are our family,” Ms Abbott said.
“We go on holidays with our dogs we walk them every single day, they bring so much joy to our lives.”
The RSPCA released this update on Lucky, the surviving bull Arab pup.
“Lucky is still in our care and is being monitored closely by our veterinary team.
“There are rumours flying around about Lucky, the sole survivor of the horrible animal cruelty case in Kurri Kurri last week, that she isn’t doing well. We are happy to quell these rumours and let you know that she is still stable and under close veterinary surveillance. Her condition has not deteriorated. If her condition does change, we will let the community know.”