“Hobby” breeding as a lucrative black market? / Breeding counteracts animal welfare and animal shelter efforts / Current draft law again brings no improvements
Braunau/Mattighofen/Uttendorf (OTS) – After 55 dogs and cats were confiscated by the authorities from a “hobby” breeder with a ban on keeping animals and taken in by the Pfotenhilfe animal protection center in Gilgenberg (Braunau district) on February 7, 2023 during a major operation, the animal protection center is repeatedly receiving reports about dubious breeders in the Braunau district, who mostly operate illegally and want to sell their live “goods” via social media. Experience has shown that there is a suspicion that such “hobby” breeding operations are not only unknown to the animal protection authorities but also to the tax office.
Currently, four dog and cat breeders in Uttendorf, Braunau and Mattighofen have been reported to the district authorities by Pfotenhilfe. Often, illegally imported dogs are bred here in order to make a quick buck. The animal protection law is ignored by the perpetrators or is not even known to them. If the puppies cannot be sold due to illness, for example, if the breeding thwarts vacation plans or if there are problems with the neighborhood, they are simply deported, as recently happened: A woman from Mattighofen called Pfotenhilfe to say she wanted to give away her Maltese parents and puppies. The reason: the neighbors had complained.
Routine checks cannot be carried out on unregistered breeding operations, which is why animal welfare associations and authorities rely on reports from the public in order to be able to remedy such abuses. “These animals are usually neglected, unvaccinated, not chipped and often sick because the aim is to make as much profit as possible at as little cost as possible,” says Pfotenhilfe managing director Johanna Stadler. “Apart from that, breeding counteracts the efforts of animal welfare associations, as we often don’t know where to find the next free space for animals that have been given up, found or confiscated!”
Unfortunately, the amendment to the Animal Welfare Act, which the coalition agreed on last week at the last minute before the summer break, does not regulate such hobby breeding strictly enough. The limit for the requirement to obtain a permit is only based on the number of litters, not on the number of breeding animals. How this is to be controlled remains one of many unanswered questions in the statements on the draft law.
Inquiries & Contact:
Association PFOTENHILFE
Jürgen Stadler
+43|664|848 55 50
juergen.stadler@pfotenhilfe.at
www.pfotenhilfe.at
#Increase #illegal #breeders #Braunau #district #Pfotenhilfe #files #charges