8 March 2016

Agriculture and Environment Committee
Sent by email to: aec@parliament.qld.gov.au

Dear Sir/ Madam, 

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the proposed legislation titled “Animal Management (Protecting Puppies) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016”.
While I welcome the proposal of a mandatory breeder ID tracking system, I as a member of the public and an animal lover believe these amendments alone will not be sufficient to end puppy farm cruelty.  
I submit the following additions to the amendments to be included: 
* Mandatory standards and guidelines mentioned must include: regular health checks for breeding dogs, and all puppies before sale; capping litter numbers per breeding female to a maximum of 3 to limit time spent in a breeding facility; mandatory desexing for puppies sold and retired breeding dogs, as well as rehoming program; adequate housing, space, exercise, enrichment allowing for normal behaviours, as well as regular human contact; mandatory record keeping; and capping total number of breeding dogs on any property to a maximum of 10.
* The legislation should cover all dogs (no exemptions for working dogs, for example).
* Anyone guilty of animal welfare offences, including having unregistered breeding animals, should have their permit revoked (including a ban on operation at the associated property), incur a strong financial penalty to act as deterrent, and have all their animals seized. 
* Additional resources need to be made available to the RSPCA Qld or/and Queensland Police to investigate and enforce these animal welfare laws, along with further funds directed to welfare groups to house seized animals. 
* The sale of pets in pet shops should be banned (unless sourced from reputable shelters/rescue groups).

Labor stated they will end cruel puppy farming as one of their election promises.  
Without these above changes, Queensland’s dogs are still at risk, and this promise will not be fulfilled.  

Thank you again for the opportunity to raise my concerns.  I look forward to the next amendment to include the above to conclusively end puppy farming In Qld.

Yours sincerely, 

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