Prevents Cruelty
The Animals Bill will prevent animal cruelty by changing the way that animals are bred and sold. It will also ensure that people can provide proper care for the animals they adopt to reduce the rate of neglect and abandonment.
Animal cruelty is endemic to puppy farms, and the animals kept on these properties endure ongoing misery and neglect. The same is true for animals kept by backyard breeders, where they are deprived of even their basic needs. Then at usually 6 weeks of age, the puppies and kittens are sold to pet shops, market holders, or animal auctions where they are sold quickly and cheaply to anyone.
Animal cruelty and pet shops are two sides to the same coin. This is because pet shops are businesses and primarily concerned with making money and reducing costs. This is not a problem in a normal retail environment, but when selling infant animals there is cause for serious concern.
To save money it is common practise to not provide veterinary treatment for animals who are sick and to feed them minimal amounts of low quality food. While in the shop, animals are housed in display cages, which during the day are surrounded by bright lights, noise and excited shoppers; at night they are left alone and unsupervised.
Pet shop employees are taught to prey on impulse buyers, and very rarely have the necessary training themselves to properly advice people on their purchases. Information is usually withheld, such as ‘expected on going costs, life expectancy, and the daily needs and care of the animal’ as it is viewed as a possible deterrent for the consumer who has ‘fallen in love’ with the cute and helpless puppy.
This lack of information combined with the impulsive nature of the purchase can often lead to the animal being abandoned. This is yet another form of cruelty which the animal must endure as a consequence of the pet industry. While on the street the animal may become a target for abuse, or taken into a council pound where it will most likely be destroyed.
The Animals Bill will stop this cycle of cruelty by:
- prohibiting the sale of cats and dogs at or from shops or markets
- prohibiting puppy farms and backyard breeders
- requiring any person who offers a cat or dog for sale to inform prospective purchasers of the basic care requirements of the animal
- making it an offence for an owner to not collect their pet from a council pound after being notified that it is there
