Written by Bob Croucher

Following last week’s article on Puppy Breeders I would like to make mentionof the bad rap that pet shops get.

Emma Hurst wants to ban the sale of puppies in pet shops. It has been shown bySenate Inquires in NSW and VIC that it is not the pet shops that are theproblem, so the reason that this keeps coming up is not a welfare issue but anelection issue.

I am reminded of an incident a couple of years ago about a pet shop in countryNSW. The shop was owned by a couple who not only sold pet products but alsoanimals including birds, puppies, and kittens.

They sourced their birds from breeders, the kittens were supplied by thepublic who preferred the shop to the local pound as they knew they wouldn’t beeuthanised. The puppies came from local farms.

With the support of Oscar’s Law and Facebook the locals held rallies outsidethe shop, painted signs on the shop windows and generally made life hell forthe owners.

Then the final straw was when their two children were ostracised by theirschool ‘friends’ after the lies were passed down from parents to theirchildren.

The puppies they sold weren’t born in pristine kennels with real or artificialgrass, they were born either on the back veranda, in the lounge room or thebarn but they received the best of care from the farmers.

They asked the PIAA if they could help but there was nothing they could doagainst the marketing campaign of Oscar’s Law using Facebook. In the end theyclosed the store and left town.

This was trial by Kangaroo Court, nobody bothered to investigate the puppiessource or I doubt that would have even mattered. The locals just decided tojump on the bandwagon of what was then a media frenzy.

Without pet shops selling puppies, more people will be driven to the internetwhere the scammers are making heaps from the unsuspecting public. Pet shopsare a bricks and mortar entity where you can go back to if you have a problem.

Emma Hurst needs to give some serious thought about what her priorities are,is it animal welfare or getting votes?

Tagged: Animal Justice Party, Puppy Farm Bill

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