Poor doggy: Most pedigree dogs that end up at shelters are likely from questionable breeders and most will present with some health issue. — Wani Muthiah/The Star
KLANG: There are currently no specific laws in Malaysia to regulate backyard animal breeders that supply animals for the pet trade, says Dr Saravanakumar S. Pillai, a former Veterinary Services Department (DVS) senior deputy director.
Dr Saravanakumar, who is currently the Humane Society International’s (HSI) senior adviser, said some pet shops offered puppies bred by professional breeders, along with others that came from “questionable sources”.
“If you go to some of these pet shops, you’ll find there are puppies that come from professional breeders, which are sold at quite an expensive rate.
“You’ll know who the breeders are as well as the puppy’s lineage and you will be issued a certificate for the puppy upon purchase,’’ he said, adding that these shops would also probably have another set of pedigree puppies that were sold at a lower price.
Dr Saravakumar was responding to a Selangor government proposal to ban all pet stores in the state from selling cats and dogs in order to encourage the public to adopt pets from shelters.
On Monday, Selangor local government, public transportation and new village development committee chairman Ng Sze Han said the state was in the midst of finalising the plan to ban all pet stores from selling cats and dogs.
“If all local councils carry out such programmes, we can help reduce the pet abandonment rate,” he said at a forum on the management of neglected dogs in Selangor.
Dr Saravanakumar said: “Unfortunately, there aren’t any specific laws to take action against these backyard breeders and puppy mills unless the Animal Welfare Act 2015 (AWA 2015) is applied for cruelty, and for this, there has to be sufficient evidence of mistreatment.
“Under the AWA 2015, breeding activities require licensing, and if they don’t have one, they can be booked for that.”
However, apart from meeting the cage and cleanliness specifications outlined in AWA 2015, there are regulations dictating how pet stores should source for the animals they put up for sale.
Some industry stakeholders welcomed Selangor’s proposal, with dog trainer Carlos Huertas saying backyard breeding and puppy mills were a big problem not only here but in other parts of the world as well.
“It is all because people want to buy pedigree, but want it cheap.
“Those who want to buy pedigrees must go and get them directly from licensed breeders who ensure that quality is maintained and no in-breeding is carried out,’’ said Huertas.
He added that puppies from backyard breeders that were the result of a lot of inbreeding often came with various health and behavioural problems.
Because of this, there are some owners who even dump store-bought pets because they cannot handle their destructive behaviour.
However, he added that even though Selangor’s ban might be realised, nothing could be done to curb online sales of canines from illegal facilities.
“There are so many of these people selling their puppies and kittens online these days, and buyers often end up with animals that have physical and mental defects due to inbreeding,’’ he said.
According to Huertas, those who dump their puppies and kittens are also those who buy them cheap online.
“If you pay a good price and get a properly and ethically bred puppy or kitten, you will not be dumping them,’’ he said.
Paws Animal Welfare Society kennel manager Edward Lim concurred, saying that all the pedigrees that ended up at the shelter were those bought from questionable sources.
“If they were from licensed and professional breeders, they would have been microchipped with the breeder’s details.
“The pedigrees that come to us are all not microchipped,’’ he said, adding that most of the pedigree animals that ended up on the streets were toy breeds such as shih tzu, poodle and pomeranian.
Besides having behavioural problems, they are also brought in with various ailments, injuries and physical deformities.
