Written by Bob Croucher

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Without pet shops selling puppies, more people will be driven to the internet where the scammers are making heaps from the unsuspecting public. Pet shops are 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?