Thursday, 31 October 2024

Animal welfare

Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (21:42): (1244) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Agriculture, and the action that I seek is for the minister to implement a breeder liability scheme for breeders to be responsible for vet bills where an animal they sold is found to have a congenital illness. People all over Victoria are purchasing animals off Gumtree, Trading Post and Facebook only to later discover the animals are not at all as they were described and are suffering from severe health issues, despite representations about health, vet checks and breeding lineage. The work of the Animal Law Institute, a community legal centre who represent owners in legal proceedings against breeders, have shown that in many cases the health issues are congenital, meaning that they are either hereditary issues or a result of negligent breeding practices. The most common conditions identified are heart murmurs, hip dysplasia, luxating patella and liver shunt. New owners are then faced with unexpected veterinary costs ranging from $10,000 to $30,000 to save their new family member, who was advertised to them as being in perfect health. With the inadequate regulations and frankly non-existent enforcement, the breeder and the advertising site get off scot-free, never having to pay a cent of the vet fees that they knew the owner would incur and often not being charged with breaching consumer laws.

Another issue on these sites is that people are posting without being a registered breeder and are falsifying registration and microchip numbers. While this is illegal, the government is doing absolutely nothing about it, nor are the sites proactively verifying advertisements. Not only this but Gumtree, who supposedly self-regulates, is actually profiting from these ads by making breeders pay an insertion fee for each post. It is no wonder that their site is littered with dishonest and illegal breeders’ ads. One particular family purchased a puppy from Gumtree for $2000 where it stated the puppy was vet checked and its parents had been DNA tested, but within days of having the puppy it began showing signs of illness. Upon examination it was determined that the puppy had been malnourished for a significant time when with the breeder. When released from the hospital the puppy had to be syringe-fed, but its health kept deteriorating. Within 20 days of purchase vets advised that the puppy’s neurological condition was causing small seizures and that it would not survive a surgery. The puppy then had to be euthanised.

Breeders are profiting from the death and illness of animals every single day in this state, and these sites and the government’s lack of regulations are allowing them to do so with absolutely zero consequences. I request that the minister impose a breeder liability scheme for breeders to be responsible for vet bills for congenital illnesses, including initial diagnosis and treatment.