Australia’s canine breeding crisis: 78 dogs ‘living in horrific conditions’ are seized from Queensland farm – as welfare expert warns social media is fuelling a dangerous rise in commercial-scale ‘puppy farming’
- WARNING: Graphic images below
- Large-scale intensive puppy farms are becoming lucrative business in Australia
- But conditions can be horrific, with 78 dogs seized this week in Queensland
- Dogs were living on a puppy farm with injuries and untreated medical conditions
- An RSPCA Queensland inspector said social media had fuelled the farms’ rise
- Cf insp Daniel Young said operations have global audience thanks to digital age
Dogs at commercial puppy farms are suffering in horrific conditions while their owners get rich, an animal welfare expert has warned.
RSPCA Queensland chief inspector Daniel Young made the worrying assessment of Australia’s dog breeding business after 78 canines were seized from an ‘intensive breeding operation’ outside Brisbane this week.
The charity’s inspectors found puppies suffering from worm infestations, physical injuries and untreated medical conditions while living in closely-confined quarters.
Lucrative puppy farms are allowing their owners to make a small fortune while the dogs under their care languish in horrific conditions, an animal welfare expert has warned (pictured an emaciated dog found on a puppy farm in Queensland’s Goondiwindi region)
The charity’s chief Queensland inspector Daniel Young told Daily Mail Australia the digital age is transforming the way large-scale farms are making money.
‘Social media has given them a better way to sell these animals,’ he said.
‘Some of these dogs are so desirable and it’s a business people want to get into – people are coming from Western Australia or New South Wales (to Queensland) to buy them.
‘It’s not local anymore.’
In Tuesday’s raid, dogs and puppies were seized as part of Operation Rolling Thunder – and a large number of them are now undergoing veterinary treatment.
Included in the seized canines was a Boston Terrier dog named Gracie, who was suffering from anaemia so severe she had to have a blood transfusion.
The survey of Australia’s dog breeding business comes after 78 canines were seized from an ‘intensive breeding operation’ outside Brisbane this week (the ribs of one Boston Terrier called Gracie could be seen during this raid)
RSPCA inspectors found puppies suffering from worm infestations, physical injuries and untreated medical conditions while living in closely-confined quarters
In Tuesday’s raid, dogs and puppies were seized as part of Operation Rolling Thunder – and a large number of them are now undergoing veterinary treatment
‘It’s obvious these dogs have been living in poor conditions and suffering for a long time,’ the state’s RSPCA chief veterinary officer Anne Chester said.
‘There have been significant concerns identified – including potentially harmful intestinal worm infestations, various behavioural issues that will require long term rehabilitation, and physical injuries and scars that need to be treated or documented.
Mr Young’s involvement in the Lockyer Valley raid follows his instrumental role in exposing one of Australia’s worst cases of puppy mill neglect in 2017.
Shocking photos from a 2017 raid showed emaciated dogs chained up at the property, while one even showed a rotting canine carcass lying on a mattress (pictured)
The charity’s chief Queensland inspector Daniel Young told Daily Mail Australia the digital age is transforming the way large-scale farms are making money
Shocking photos showed emaciated dogs chained up at the property, while one even showed a rotting canine carcass lying on a mattress.
The operation’s owner was charged with 215 animal neglect charges, but then passed away before he could be brought to justice.
Intensive dog breeding, often referred to as puppy mills, is not illegal in Australia provided the animals are sufficiently cared for.
But in 2017, legislation passed in Victorian Parliament which meant breeders in the state would only be able to keep 50 fertile female dogs at a time from April 2020.
‘Some of these dogs are so desirable and it’s a business people want to get into – people are coming from Western Australia or New South Wales (to Queensland) to buy them,’ Mr Young said (pictured a dachshund and her puppies found in the Lockyer Valley raid this week)