Thursday October 18, 2007, 5:25 am
Noted/duely...K

Thursday October 18, 2007, 5:50 am
Thank-you Chrissy, Noted !!!

Thursday October 18, 2007, 6:30 am
I think mabe she's right about buying on impulse, when you see a small puppy crying in a shop window it breaks your heart, I know it does mine. But saying that if I bought every animal I fell in love with in a shop window I would be over-run by animals.

Thursday October 18, 2007, 9:44 am
Noted -- and I agree with the bill...

Thursday October 18, 2007, 10:38 am
thank you... noted

Thursday October 18, 2007, 1:11 pm
Chrissy, I agree with the bill. Everytime I go past the petshop it breaks my heart as where we live we are not allowed to have animals, and I would love to take one home each time...lol..Also the markup by petshops in price against what they pay the breeder is disgraceful...A breeder may get $200 to $250 for a puppy being sold for $600 and the petshop where I do my shopping each week, gives $100 off if you pay by cash, Now no-one is silly enough surely to use a Credit Card to pay for a puppy if they can get $100 off for cash..I would just go to the ATM and draw the money out of a Credit card and pay them cash. Also I don't know if the animals are picked up each night and taken back each morning, or over the weekends...The law here in Qld used to be that the pets were not left in the store overnight but this petshop is in a shopping centre..one of the Westfield group, so often wonder if they are all left there overnight. I did see a couple taking some puppies from their car last Saturday morning, but was too scared to asked them, and also if I could have had a pet these puppies were exactly the breed I would buy...shi-tzu or maltese..cross aka now called designer dogs, because the shi-tzu can be aggressive at times, I have had several over the years, and the maltese is very placid but doesn't make a good mother generally. So they crossed the two to get this "designer dog" Gosh 10 yrs back if a purebreed was crossed you would be lucky to get $50 for it. But now they get up to $700 or more in the pet shops. So there are several reasons I back this MP for this bill, should be bought up as a Federal bill with the election coming up. The MP's and candidates are always photographed cuddling babies and small children...never an animal...maybe we should start a new trend with the upcoming elections and ask our local candidates to been seen caring for animals too.

Thursday October 18, 2007, 3:47 pm
"A Puppy is forever, not just for Christmas"

Thursday October 18, 2007, 4:15 pm
I am always amazed at the way people are drawn to the puppies (especially) in pet shops. I can remember visiting my Dad before he moved in with us and going to one of the huge Westfield shopping malls near him. They had 2 lots of puppies there, some Schnoodles (Schnauzer x Poodle) and some Moodles (Maltese x Poodles). First time I saw them, I just glanced and felt sorry. next time I was there, there was only 1 Schnoodle left and there was a couple cuddling one of the Moodles. I could not believe that they were prepared to pay$850 for this puppy, with first vaccination and "health check", so stood close by, tutted and mentioned that they could get the same type of puppy from the RSPCA for around $150, already desexed. made no difference, they bought her. even more amazing as that there was only one of the original 3 Schnoodles left and they were selling for $1,350! Don Burke was mainly to blame for the surge of 'designer breeds" here in Oz and after much protest from responsible breeders, he left Channel 9 ... only to see he's back now! When people tell me that they have "hybrid vigour" and that the separate breed faults are bred out of them because of the crossing, I also let them know that for every one that is perfect, there is at least 1 that has both sets of faults and is generally crippled.

Thursday October 18, 2007, 4:24 pm
Yes Chrissy...I can't pass the Pet Shop without say hello to the animals in there. As I said, I can't have a pet here, but I feel so sorry for the little ones in those cages. And YES the prices are outragous even for a purebred, which we rarely see in a Pet Shop these days. I saw a Japanese Spinks who whatever the second part of the name is and it was over $1200...looks like a Husky but smaller...hmm maybe is breed with a husky (samoud) and something else.???

Thursday October 18, 2007, 4:49 pm
No, in that case they would have been a pure bred ... but probably from a puppy farm, which is where 99% of the big pet shops get their puppies from. They would have been Japanese Spitz, like a large Pomeranian. Alays white.
http://www.japanesespitz.com.au/FAQs.htm

Thursday October 18, 2007, 5:22 pm
Thats it Chrissy..sure I spelt the second name wrong but they are cute..but expensive.

Friday October 19, 2007, 7:29 pm
Most shopping centre pet shops are clean and well run and rarely have more than a dozen animals for sale.
i always enjoy looking at what is for sale, so too do many others.
What is the problem?

Friday October 19, 2007, 7:34 pm
Hi Michael..Well you obviously have not been to one of the big shopping centres here as our Westfield one has anything up and above 20 dogs and about a dozen cats in there at present. It is spring here and of course the animal population is breeding, but to have so many animals in those cages, which are not that big is a disgrace and sad for the animals.

Friday October 19, 2007, 8:50 pm
Michael, the problem is that most of these puppies don't come from breeders, but from puppy farms, which spew out puppies at a disgusting rate. They breed from their bitches every season and when they are past breeding age, that's the end of their life. Sadly, human psychi tends to be drawn to puppies in pet shops and a lot of inpulse buying is done, with no thought to what size the pup will be when it grows up, or what its' temperament will be lie ... most of these are the cute designer breeds. When they grow big or hairy, they end up at shelters.

Friday October 19, 2007, 10:07 pm
OK so you would recommend going to a reputable breeder?
(How do you know?)

Wouldn't regulation be better than an outright ban?
Pet shop owners are not going to endanger their income?
or
do you think the 'impulse buying' thing is too big a problem?

Saturday October 20, 2007, 8:38 am
Hi Chrissy, I am surprised that this still happened, its a bit dated still selling animals in shops, l thought that before you can have an animal in your care you had to be checked out to be suitable??? unless thats just here in the UK? Anyway it's a good bill.

Saturday October 20, 2007, 12:29 pm
Hi Chrissy, noted.

Saturday October 20, 2007, 5:44 pm
Hi Maria, no, here in Australia, puppies and kittens in pet shops are still available to anyone that wants them … and I thought that the RSPCA always did home checks before ou could adopt, but when we got our two babies, there was no check.

Michael, yeah, as far as I am concerned, if you want a pure bred puppy, then you should go to a registered breeder. First port of call would be the Canine Council in your State of residence … QCCC in our case … or find the breed club. Breeders can introduce you to the parents and most will either take the dog back at a later date if something arises that you can’t keep it or will help you to re-home it.

If you want a x-breed or Heinz, then your local shelter/refuge … shameless plug for the web site that Jeff designed and we run for Maryborough … www.maryboroughanimalrefuge.com … which is where a lot of these designer dogs end up. Most refuges/shelters make sure that the pets are desexed before re-homing them.

As Helen has already mentioned, these designer dogs were once called x-breeds or Heinz, but thanks in no small art to Don Burke, they became very popular as “new breeds” and often cost more than a pure bred. A lot of these “breeds” are also sold as “pure bred” … HUH!? There is no limit to the number or types of crosses that are available and all have their own unique name. Sadly, 99% of these puppies come from puppy farms where the bitches are bred every season and in deplorable conditions. When they get to the end of their breeding days, they are expendable and disposable. These puppies are sold with first vaccination, wormed and having had a health check. Our local pet shops only sell puppies from local breeders … who in my mind are either too lazy to sell their own puppies and meet and greet the new owners or have a litter of “mistakes”. However, any that aren’t sold go back to the breeder. I have tried to find out for a long time what happens to the puppies that come from the puppy farms and don’t get sold … have never been able to find out.

People talk about these hybrids being healthier, but sadly, that is not the case. Say you have a litter of 4, born to a breed that can suffer from PRA (a form of blindness), sired by a dog that’s breed tends to suffer from HD (Hip Dysplasia). Law of averages says that 1 of the puppies will be “perfect”, 1 will have HD, 1 will have PRA and 1 poor soul will have both.

Here is a list of Poodle crosses that are available.
Aussiedoodle - Australian Shepherd/Poodle
Beagapoo - Beagle/Poodle
Bich-Poo - Bichon /Poodle
Boxerdoodle - Boxer/Poodle
Cairnoodle - Cairn Terrier/Poodle
Cavapoo - Cavalier King Charles Spaniel/Poodle
Chi-Poo - Chihuahua/Poodle
Cockapoo - Cocker Spaniel/Poodle
Doodleman Pinscher - Doberman/Standard Poodle
English Boodle - English Bulldog/Poodle
Eskapoo - American Eskimo Dog/Poodle
Goldendoodle - Golden Retriever/Poodle
Labradoodle - Labrador Retriever/Poodle
Lhasapoo - Lhasa Apso/Poodle
Malti-Poo - Maltese/Poodle
Papoo - Papillion/Poodle
Pekepoo - Pekingese/Poodle
Pomapoo - Pomeranian/Poodle
Pugapoo - Pug/Poodle
Saint Berdoodle - Saint Bernard/Poodle
Schnoodle - Schnauzer/Poodle
Scoodle - Scottish Terrier/Poodle
Shepadoodle - German Shepherd/Standard Poodle
Shih-Poo - Shih-Tzu/Poodle
Weimardoodle - Weimaraner/Poodle
Westiepoo - West Highland White Terrier/Poodle
Whoodles - Soft Coated Wheaton Terrier/Poodle
Yorkipoo - Yorkie/Poodle
Other breeds
Beaglier - Beagle/Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
Cavachon - Cavalier King Charles Spaniel/Bichon Frise
Cocabichon - Cocker Spaniel/Bichon Frise
Goldador - Golden Retriever/Labrador Retriever
Mal-Shi - Maltese/Shih Tzu
Malti-Pom - Maltese/Pomeranian
Pomchi - Pomeranian/Chihuahua
Peek -A-Pom - Pekingese/Pomeranian
Puggle - Pug/Beagle
Yorktese - Yorkshire Terrier/Maltese
Okay, this as you may have gathered is a pet gripe of mine, having been involved in rescue for many years. There are a lot of links here, but worth looking at.
http://www.rivergumdesignerpuppies.com.au/breedprofiles.html
http://www.freedomkennels.com.au/
http://designerdogs.org.au/
http://www.globaldial.com/~aegis/puppyfarms.htm
http://www.alv.org.au/storyarchive/0504prisoners/index.php
http://www.saynotoanimalsinpetshops.com/articles.html
http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/designerdogs.htm
http://www.petrescue.com.au/why_adopt/
http://www.dogstrust.org.uk/information/poppysopinions/puppyfarming/
Okay, end of lecture!

Saturday October 20, 2007, 5:46 pm
Oh and Michael, they would only have to sell one pup to make a profit and people do tend to act on impulse when they see the eyes! Shops are only concerned that they have the $$ to pay for them.

Saturday October 20, 2007, 6:05 pm
Yes Chrissy this is so true..the markup is rediculous. When I had shi-tzu.'s I bought them from a breeder who only breed that breed...But sadly had to re-home them when we moved here to Brisbane as we can't have pets here. But these mixes in the stores now are so rediculous and some of the mixes look downright awful....

Wednesday November 21, 2007, 6:08 pm
noted

Wednesday November 21, 2007, 6:56 pm
I actually got around to reading the whole bill this week and sent he an email congratulating her on it, to whic her PA replied within an hour. Not only is she trying to ban the sale of felines and canines from pet shops ... her bill is actually mammals ... but she has a few other things in it. Some of the other measures is to only allow sale of dogs/cats from registered breeders, rescue groups, shelters and pounds. this is with the hope of curtailing the "get rich quick" backyard breeders. Anyone that hasn't had their pet de desexed and has to "dispose" of a litter, will only be allowed to advertise ANYWHERE for a maximum of 6 days. That includes all forms of media and the Internet.

One of our local pet shops has kittens at present for $80, first vac and wormed, but for an extra $30 they could go a and get one from our RSPCA shelter already desexed.