As long as there is demand for purebred puppies and the opportunity for profit, there will be puppy mills. As long as there are puppy mills, there will be a desperate need for clear regulations and strict enforcement. The RSPCA investigated 21 separate breeders across Australia last financial year.
The animal protection society says that "cruel puppy farms" are using limited breeding pools to produce a generation of dogs beset with genetic health problems including blindness, arthritic joints and skin problems.
ACA Breeders Kennels in Sale, where the pictures were taken and an estimated 300 to 400 dogs are kept for reproduction purposes, have denied the exploitation.
The pictures were taken by Animal Liberation Victoria, which claimed it rescued some dogs needing treatment for eye infections.
"It's a factory, a production line with rows and rows of breeding mums," ALV spokeswoman Debra Rigaldi said. "Puppy farms are the ultimate betrayal of man's best friend."
And RSPCA President Dr Hugh Wirth said the dogs pictured probably experienced a life of "terror".
"They live a life of confinement and deprivation," he said. "It's very difficult to find them a home later because they aren't used to open spaces, they are just terrified."
Photo by clussman.
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