Knox City Council
511 Burwood Highway
Wantirna South 3152

July 4, 2007

Dear Mayor and Council Members,

Re: Responsible Pet Ownership Competition

I am a local resident and ratepayer in the Knox Council and was very disappointed after reading Council’s advertisement regarding the competition for responsible pet ownership in the Knox Leader (June 5 2007).

It is important that Knox Council be made aware that ACA Breeders, one of the participating sponsors, own one of Victoria’s largest puppy breeding farms and is responsible for contributing to the overpopulation crisis of companion animals here in Australia, definitely not a pre-requisite for responsible care of companion animals!

Intensive puppy breeding farms is the hidden cruel business behind the pet shop window. The public is little aware of these puppy breeding farms where thousands of dogs across the State are kept imprisoned for life churning out litter after litter of puppies to supply the pet shop industry. Female dogs come into their first season at approximately 4-6 months of age and this is when many unscrupulous breeders mate them for their first litter, when they are still only puppies themselves. Mother dogs are not given any rest or reprieve between litters and are kept in a continual cycle of pregnancy. Father dogs live their entire lives locked in pens with small runs, if they are lucky, and are only there to 'service' the female dogs.

Both the mother and father dogs spend day after day after day ceaselessly pacing back and forth in small enclosures, their only way of coping with endless despair. These intelligent animals are never walked, socialised or given any love; they are simply breeding machines. Pups are weaned from their mums between 4 and 5 weeks of age and then transported to pet shops for display to the unsuspecting public. Pet shop owners depend on love at first sight when people, especially kids, see the adorable little puppies, as it prompts people to make an impulsive purchase. What the consumer can’t see is the puppy’s mother imprisoned miles away in her small pen awaiting her next pregnancy ad infinitum.

In Australia we kill approximately 160,000 dogs every year because they are homeless, lost or abandoned. That's 350 dogs killed each and every day... one dog dies every 4 minutes around the clock. The problems that cause animals to end up in shelters are preventable and the solutions are in our hands. I know Knox Council can have an impact on this issue by making the right decisions and taking the correct action. Local councils have an enormous influence on their ratepayers and an even larger responsibility to promote responsible care of companion animals.

Thus, Knox Council's competition to encourage people to properly look after animals in their care is commendable, but it is a contradiction in terms and counterproductive to allow local pet shops and Victoria’s largest puppy farm to sponsor a competition titled “responsible pet ownership”.

As campaign manager for Animal Liberation Victoria's campaign against puppy farms, I have inspected and photographed numerous puppy breeding facilities around the State over many years, including ACA Breeders. What we find is not pretty and would make anyone who truly understands the term 'man's best friend' hang their head in shame.

Your council staff would be well aware of all the lovable, vulnerable, needy animals who present lost, relinquished or abandoned everyday hoping that someone will come and take them home, and save them from that fatal needle. As believe me, countless photos and appeals to rehome these animals flood across my computer screen regularly.

I'm sure we'd all agree there should not be a place in a civilised society for a system that regularly and routinely disposes of animals as if they were trash/garbage.

I appeal to the Knox Council to please refuse to accept the sponsorship of any business that treats animals as commodities and breeding machines and who may directly or indirectly contribute to the killing of 'our best friend' at the rate of one every 4 minutes.

Please don't hesitate to contact me for any further information regarding the abuse of dogs in puppy farming, and I eagerly await your reply in making this courageous stand for the well-being of these loyal and devoted companion animals,

Sincerely yours,

Debra Tranter, Campaign Manager (Puppy Farming)
Animal Liberation Victoria Inc.