Parliament Lower House Passes Legislation That Will Put An End To Puppy Farming

The McGowan Government's proposed legislation to end Puppy Farming in Western Australia passed State Parliaments Lower House yesterday. 

The Stop Puppy Farming legislation will change the Dog Act 1976, minimising the number of dogs suffering neglect and requiring rehoming via regulation of breeding and sale of dogs in WA. 

The community is in enormous favour of scraping puppy farming, an industry that is mostly unregulated and, like the other pet farming industries, known for animal cruelty. 

The new laws also include:

• Mandatory sterilisation of dogs by two years of age (unless exempt) 
• Pet shops transitioning into adoption centres 
• A centralised registration system that will hold information on dogs, cats and approved breeders (supporting monitoring and enforcement)
• De-muzzling of pet greyhounds 

The centralised registration system will help streamline the registering of cats and dogs online and allow ease of registration transfer if owners move between local governments. It will replace the numerous individual systems managed by each local government area and improve the tracking of dogs across the state. 

Under the bill, dogs purchased from any dog owner, breeder or approved pet stop must provide information to the consumers that will help them establish if the dog has been ethically bred and raised. 

The proposed laws were originally a key part in the McGowan Government’s election commitment back in 2017 but were blocked at the time, by the previous term of government by the Liberal-National Coalition. 

For more information about the proposed laws, visit www.dlgsc.wa.gov.au/stoppuppyfarming

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