LOCAL dog lover and Sunshine Coast Kennel Club member Helen Weil is not alone in her disgust at the appalling treatment of animals in illegal puppy farms.
Ms Weil says changes to state legislation made in 2018 restricting dog breeding need to go much further to protect all breeding dogs and puppies.
“It’s obvious that Queensland is seriously lagging behind other states in making sure that animal welfare and ethics are the key considerations, not profit-driven puppy breeding,” Ms Weil said.
“The recent outrage at the intensive puppy breeding facility proposal at Landsborough – where over 400,000 people objected to [Sunshine Coast] council – shows that, in the eyes of many, the system is not working.
“At the meeting where the council voted to reject the proposal, many councillors spoke of the need for greater state government regulation and enforcement.
“I’ve raised this on a number of occasions with the relevant state minister, even sponsored petitions calling for stronger action, but each time the response is the same – nothing more is to be done.
“It’s just not good enough and as a humane society we need to treat ‘man’s best friend’ with much more dignity, respect and kindness than we do now,” Ms Weil said.
In an attempt to collectively channel the outrage raised by the Landsborough development proposal, Ms Weil has once again sponsored a parliamentary petition imploring the government to go much further to strengthen provisions to stop the exploitation of dogs for profit.
“I ask that anyone who cares about the welfare of dogs and wants to see the exploitation stop, please sign the petition so we can tell our politicians that the current legislation is not working and it must be changed.”
To support Helen’s call, you can sign her petition from the following link – www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Work-of-the-Assembly/Petitions/Petition-Details?id=3638.
Main image: Helen Weil with her dogs Storm and Radar
