blackmagic Posted January 8, 2009 Report Share Posted January 8, 2009 Crossposted Morning all! I'm pleased to say that last night the Licensing committee agreed we could cease to allow the sale of dogs through pet shops in the borough. This would include people dealing in dogs as they would need a pet shop licence. Within the Pet Animals Act there are provisions for LAs to set conditions for "securing all or any of the objects specified". We argued that there is a strong, proven link between puppy farms and pet shops meaning that the dogs are likely to be sold underage, with medical problems, travel great distances and have inaccurate paperwork. The environment of the pet shop is also likely to expose the young pups to disease including such things as parvo as they would not have completed a vaccination course. This would therefore be in conflict of the conditions: "that animals, being mammals, will not be sold at too early an age" and second "that all reasonable precautions will be taken to prevent the spread among animals of infectious diseases". I talked to other LAs, to rescue centres (both large and small), a very helpful reporter from the recent documentary shown on S4C, campaigners and a lovely woman who was able to give her very personal story about her experience. If anyone is interested further and would like my notes from this I'm more than happy to pass them on (just give me a minute to tidy them up so they make sense to others!!) The committee was unanimous in the decision (which doesn't happen a lot!). The only thing they required was that a person could make an appeal to committee and give an individual case as to why they should be allowed to sell dogs on a pet shop licence (this was expected). Committee did agree however they would accept guidelines from me as to good and bad practices to look for when considering a case. I am in the process of writing these but they include such things as: the dogs must be bought direct from a breeder, they cannot come via another dealer. They must be sourced locally so as to not travelled any great distance and that the breeder is easily reachable for the new owners to talk to. The breeder's information must be freely available at the time of purchase. Proof of appropriate (for the breed) tests for inherited diseases (for the parents and/or the pups) must be provided. The parents of the pups must be DNA profiled so that the new owners can prove, if they wish, that the puppy is indeed from those parents. And many more! I admit I am trying to make it difficult for anyone to be able to argue they are suitable but am equally bound to ensure it is possible, in theory for someone to be granted a licence. I have to ensure that the conditions are related to the reasons why we don't dogs sold in pet shops - i.e. the high chance they have been sourced from a puppy farm. I'd be interested in anyone's thoughts on this (whether you agree with me or not! a good debate is always welcome!) Please also feel free to cascade this on to anyone else. As stated, I'm more than happy to discuss further at any time. One of the things I found most interesting with this was that the puppy farms rarely sell directly to the public any more, the sales are made pretty much exclusively through dealers and pet shops so in restricting them it could make a real dent in the puppy farmer's profits. Some how I cannot see this as a bad thing... ;) Happy Thursday! ali Alison Waine Environmental Protection Officer - Animals Swindon Borough Council tel: 01793 466068 fax: 01793 466165 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rufus the wonderdog Posted January 8, 2009 Report Share Posted January 8, 2009 Crossposted Morning all! I'm pleased to say that last night the Licensing committee agreed we could cease to allow the sale of dogs through pet shops in the borough. This would include people dealing in dogs as they would need a pet shop licence. Within the Pet Animals Act there are provisions for LAs to set conditions for "securing all or any of the objects specified". We argued that there is a strong, proven link between puppy farms and pet shops meaning that the dogs are likely to be sold underage, with medical problems, travel great distances and have inaccurate paperwork. The environment of the pet shop is also likely to expose the young pups to disease including such things as parvo as they would not have completed a vaccination course. This would therefore be in conflict of the conditions: "that animals, being mammals, will not be sold at too early an age" and second "that all reasonable precautions will be taken to prevent the spread among animals of infectious diseases". I talked to other LAs, to rescue centres (both large and small), a very helpful reporter from the recent documentary shown on S4C, campaigners and a lovely woman who was able to give her very personal story about her experience. If anyone is interested further and would like my notes from this I'm more than happy to pass them on (just give me a minute to tidy them up so they make sense to others!!) The committee was unanimous in the decision (which doesn't happen a lot!). The only thing they required was that a person could make an appeal to committee and give an individual case as to why they should be allowed to sell dogs on a pet shop licence (this was expected). Committee did agree however they would accept guidelines from me as to good and bad practices to look for when considering a case. I am in the process of writing these but they include such things as: the dogs must be bought direct from a breeder, they cannot come via another dealer. They must be sourced locally so as to not travelled any great distance and that the breeder is easily reachable for the new owners to talk to. The breeder's information must be freely available at the time of purchase. Proof of appropriate (for the breed) tests for inherited diseases (for the parents and/or the pups) must be provided. The parents of the pups must be DNA profiled so that the new owners can prove, if they wish, that the puppy is indeed from those parents. And many more! I admit I am trying to make it difficult for anyone to be able to argue they are suitable but am equally bound to ensure it is possible, in theory for someone to be granted a licence. I have to ensure that the conditions are related to the reasons why we don't dogs sold in pet shops - i.e. the high chance they have been sourced from a puppy farm. I'd be interested in anyone's thoughts on this (whether you agree with me or not! a good debate is always welcome!) Please also feel free to cascade this on to anyone else. As stated, I'm more than happy to discuss further at any time. One of the things I found most interesting with this was that the puppy farms rarely sell directly to the public any more, the sales are made pretty much exclusively through dealers and pet shops so in restricting them it could make a real dent in the puppy farmer's profits. Some how I cannot see this as a bad thing... ;) Happy Thursday! ali Alison Waine Environmental Protection Officer - Animals Swindon Borough Council tel: 01793 466068 fax: 01793 466165 Very well done Alison Well done Swindon Council Anything that curbs puppy farms is excellent news Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumpole Posted January 8, 2009 Report Share Posted January 8, 2009 well done ali id be interested in your notes and any assistance, theres a couple of very baaad places round here id like to scupper if i can Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gog Magog Posted January 8, 2009 Report Share Posted January 8, 2009 Will forward to you tomorrow Please send me a message if I forget though! Have had an awful lot of emails in response to it and I do apologise if any delays in responding to people or if someone slips through. Just give me a kick to remind me Am off to have a glass of wine to celebrate... and then fall asleep as knackered from the last few days! ali x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurel n Hardy Posted January 9, 2009 Report Share Posted January 9, 2009 well done swindon council Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gog Magog Posted January 12, 2009 Report Share Posted January 12, 2009 Just a quickie to say apologies for the delay in sending details out - I'm waiting for some information from the Pet Care Trust to add to the notes which I hope is going to come through in the next day or two. Would like to include it for the sake of completion And thanks again for the support As said I'm in the process of writing the guidelines for the committee, if anyone would like to add their thoughts or suggestions please feel free to email or pm me ali x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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