E-petition launched to ban puppy farms

UPDATE: The RSPCA has launched an e-petition calling on the State Government to ban puppy farms.

RSPCA CEO Andrea Dawkins and Independent Member for Franklin David O’Byrne have lodged an e-petition to Parliament calling for legislative action following the successful closure last month of the state’s largest puppy farm, Tasmanian Labradoodles. 

“It took the RSPCA around three years to finally force the closure of the state’s biggest and worst puppy farm, Tasmanian Labradoodles,” Ms Dawkins said. 

“Over that drawn out legal battle, the breeders were able to continue to operate, and hundreds of dogs were born into poor health and many never had contact with humans.

“This was an appalling chapter in animal welfare for our state, and we cannot ever let this happen again. 

“The reality is that the laws failed all of us, and the existing law does nothing to deter this from happening again.  The laws must change, and they must change urgently."

The e-petition states:

We, the undersigned residents of Tasmania, draw to the attention of the House the recent shut down of Tasmania's largest puppy farm and surrender of 250 labradoodles. 

Tasmania's laws failed to protect these animals, and urgent law reform is needed to ensure a situation like this can never happen again. 

Your petitioners, therefore, request the House to call on the Government to urgently introduce laws that ban puppy farms in Tasmania. 

The e-petition is available HERE and is open until September 9.

EARLIER: Today, the RSPCA has successfully rescued the final 28 labradoodles from the now closed site of the former puppy farm, Tasmanian Labradoodles. 

Over the past five weeks, a total of 239 labradoodles have been rescued as part of the RSPCA’s unprecedented operation to shut down Tasmania’s largest puppy farm. 

RSPCA CEO Andrea Dawkins thanked every individual and organisation who had contributed time, money, donations, expertise and their homes. 

“Today, we saved the final 28 labradoodles from the puppy farm bringing the total number of rescued dogs to 239,” Ms Dawkins said. 

“I cannot thank everyone enough for the love and support that we have received to date, to make this operation a success. 

“The overwhelming support and generosity of the community, organisations and individuals has enabled us to save hundreds of dogs and shut down this puppy farm. 

“This is the single biggest animal welfare operation in Tasmania’s history, and it has been a success because of your support – thank you, everyone.” 

Ms Dawkins said the labradoodle operation has three distinct phases: Rescue, Rehabilitation and Rehoming. 

“It’s incredible to celebrate ‘mission accomplished’ on the Rescue Phase of this unprecedented operation, but there is still a great deal of hard work ahead as we now focus on Rehabilitation and Rehoming Phases,” Ms Dawkins said. 

“With the money that was generously donated, we’re now working through vet checks, vaccinations, desexing and behavioural assistance for each labradoodle. 

“We have been relieved to find that most of the labradoodles are in good condition, and largely in need of a good bath, groom and love. 

“But there have been a small number with conditions that need some extra expert care including for ear infections, hernias and hip problems, which our extraordinary local vets are helping to fix. 

“We are also continuing work through the overwhelming number of oZers of foster and adoptions homes, and thank everyone for their interest. “It has been so rewarding to see many of our labradoodles settle into foster and forever homes across Tasmania, and quickly become much loved members of the family.” 

Ms Dawkins said the RSPCA was also continuing to campaign for urgent changes to the dog regulations to ensure this cannot happen again. 

“We have been engaging with the Government, Department and members across the Parliament in recent weeks, and have been very heartened by their want to fix this problem,” Ms Dawkins said. 

“The reality is that the existing laws in Tasmania have failed us, and those laws must change. 

“We want to see urgent action to ban puppy farms, mandatory registration for breeders and a code of practice for breeders and facilities.” 

Ms Dawkins thanked the Department of Natural Resources and Environment for their support, and partner organisations that are helping to house the labradoodles before they are fostered or adopted, including Brightside Farm Sanctuary, The Dogs Home and North East Animal Sanctuary