PlanningAlerts

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1. Objection to MCU21/105

   Dear Officer Kirkwood:

   I (September 9th, 1948) am writing to object to planning application MCU21/105, which seeks permission to breed dogs at 1359 Rosewood-Warrill View Road, Mount Walker, Queensland. I object for the following reasons:

   Noise Pollution

   The applicants don’t adequately address how they intend to mitigate the noise created by 50 dogs (in addition to puppies) who would be present at the facility. The Noise Impact Assessment (Appendix 6) includes a report stating that people often purchase residences in rural areas “seeking quietude and can be dismayed to find kennel noise affecting their lifestyle” and that barking is one of the top three sources of noise that create annoyance in the Australian community. The closest residents are 370 metres to the west and 680 metres to the southeast of the property.

   While an acoustic barrier (a fence) and screening between kennels are recommended by the engineers, they seem insufficient to mute the cacophony of 50 dogs (and their puppies) all barking at once. As anyone who shares a home with a dog knows, it’s normal for dogs to be noisy when they’re anticipating food or when unfamiliar animals or humans are visible or audible.

   According to the Noise Impact Assessment, the applicants intend to use “anti-bark collars” on “problem dogs”. While not entirely specific about the type of collar, such punishment-based training methods are cruel and dangerous, especially considering that barking is a normal vocalising behaviour for dogs. Collars that administer an electric shock are illegal in New South Wales, South Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory.

   Problematic Breeding and Marketing

   If approved, the puppy mill could breed up to 50 dogs at a time and sell their puppies for financial gain. The dogs would be poodle-mix breeds – bordoodles, moodles, and schmoodles. While these breeds are usually marketed as “hypoallergenic” because they shed less, there is, according to the chair of the Division of Allergic Diseases in the Department of Internal Medicine at the Mayo Clinic, “no such thing as a hypoallergenic dog breed”.

   In fact, the Australian man credited with starting the trend for poodle-mix breeds told ABC News, “I opened a Pandora’s box and released a Frankenstein’s monster. … I find that the biggest majority [of labradoodles] are either crazy or have a hereditary problem.”

   The dog-breeding industry is fraught with consumer complaints, and allowing such a large breeding facility could put the Scenic Rim at the centre of future controversy.

   Then there is the fact that there are so many dogs surrendered to shelters each year. Approximately 200,000 dogs enter Australia’s shelters every year, and around 44,000 of them are euthanised. It’s irresponsible to breed more animals when so many are already in need of urgent care.

   The applicants haven’t advised how they intend to care for the breeding dogs as they age, suggesting that they, too, will add to the number of dogs in need of homes.

   The Human Impact of Overwhelmed Shelters

   Puppy mills contribute to the homeless-animal crisis since every puppy bred and sold by such facilities takes away a chance at a loving home for a dog in a shelter. A significant proportion of the work of rescuing, fostering, caring for, and finding homes for the thousands of homeless dogs in Australia is performed by not-for-profit shelters, rescue groups, and networks of foster homes. These entities are primarily funded by community donations, state government grants, and bequests and are often heavily reliant on volunteers to sustain their work. Many are permanently overwhelmed and sometimes turn dogs away for lack of room, foster placements, or financial resources.

   Breeding Mills are Known for Profound Neglect and Cruelty

   What is worse, high-volume breeding facilities are known to be profoundly inhumane. They churn out puppies FOR PROFIT, mercilessly ignoring the needs of the puppies and their mothers. Treated like cash crops sick or dying animals receive little or no veterinary care. Adult animals are continuously bred until they are so worn out that they can no longer produce. They die a lonely, painful death and are then discarded like trash. Puppies are taken from their mothers far too early so that many suffer from serious behavior problems. Confined to squalid, overcrowded cages with minimal shelter from extreme weather and no choice but to sit and sleep in their own excrement, they have no mental stimulation whatsoever, which causes extreme distress. Moreover, they often suffer from malnutrition or starvation due to inadequate or unsanitary food and water.
   Roughly 90 percent of puppies in pet stores come from puppy mills and many retailers who buy animals from such facilities do not care properly or even severely neglect their living “articles“.

   Apart from the excruciating suffering of animials in breeding facilities, the introduction of a puppy mill in the area would almost certainly have long-term consequences for the region’s rescue organisations and shelters.

   I strongly urge you and wholeheartedly beg you to take my objections along with the comments made by local residents into account when making a decision on this application. Please, show humanity and compassion and think of all the innocent, defenceless animals that voice, and are in need of a government who protects them from such tremendous suffering by opposing huge, intensive, indoor animal factory farms, in which animals suffer unimaginable.

   Thank you for your time and attention to this serious matter.

   Yours sincerely,

   Christel Medick

2. Objection to MCU21/105

   Dear Officer Kirkwood:

   I (February 9th, 1981) am writing to object to planning application MCU21/105, which seeks permission to breed dogs at 1359 Rosewood-Warrill View Road, Mount Walker, Queensland. I object for the following reasons:

   Noise Pollution

   The applicants don’t adequately address how they intend to mitigate the noise created by 50 dogs (in addition to puppies) who would be present at the facility. The Noise Impact Assessment (Appendix 6) includes a report stating that people often purchase residences in rural areas “seeking quietude and can be dismayed to find kennel noise affecting their lifestyle” and that barking is one of the top three sources of noise that create annoyance in the Australian community. The closest residents are 370 metres to the west and 680 metres to the southeast of the property.

   While an acoustic barrier (a fence) and screening between kennels are recommended by the engineers, they seem insufficient to mute the cacophony of 50 dogs (and their puppies) all barking at once. As anyone who shares a home with a dog knows, it’s normal for dogs to be noisy when they’re anticipating food or when unfamiliar animals or humans are visible or audible.

   According to the Noise Impact Assessment, the applicants intend to use “anti-bark collars” on “problem dogs”. While not entirely specific about the type of collar, such punishment-based training methods are cruel and dangerous, especially considering that barking is a normal vocalising behaviour for dogs. Collars that administer an electric shock are illegal in New South Wales, South Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory.

   Problematic Breeding and Marketing

   If approved, the puppy mill could breed up to 50 dogs at a time and sell their puppies for financial gain. The dogs would be poodle-mix breeds – bordoodles, moodles, and schmoodles. While these breeds are usually marketed as “hypoallergenic” because they shed less, there is, according to the chair of the Division of Allergic Diseases in the Department of Internal Medicine at the Mayo Clinic, “no such thing as a hypoallergenic dog breed”.

   In fact, the Australian man credited with starting the trend for poodle-mix breeds told ABC News, “I opened a Pandora’s box and released a Frankenstein’s monster. … I find that the biggest majority [of labradoodles] are either crazy or have a hereditary problem.”

   The dog-breeding industry is fraught with consumer complaints, and allowing such a large breeding facility could put the Scenic Rim at the centre of future controversy.

   Then there is the fact that there are so many dogs surrendered to shelters each year. Approximately 200,000 dogs enter Australia’s shelters every year, and around 44,000 of them are euthanised. It’s irresponsible to breed more animals when so many are already in need of urgent care.

   The applicants haven’t advised how they intend to care for the breeding dogs as they age, suggesting that they, too, will add to the number of dogs in need of homes.

   The Human Impact of Overwhelmed Shelters

   Puppy mills contribute to the homeless-animal crisis since every puppy bred and sold by such facilities takes away a chance at a loving home for a dog in a shelter. A significant proportion of the work of rescuing, fostering, caring for, and finding homes for the thousands of homeless dogs in Australia is performed by not-for-profit shelters, rescue groups, and networks of foster homes. These entities are primarily funded by community donations, state government grants, and bequests and are often heavily reliant on volunteers to sustain their work. Many are permanently overwhelmed and sometimes turn dogs away for lack of room, foster placements, or financial resources.

   Breeding Mills are Known for Profound Neglect and Cruelty

   What is worse, high-volume breeding facilities are known to be profoundly inhumane. They churn out puppies FOR PROFIT, mercilessly ignoring the needs of the puppies and their mothers. Treated like cash crops sick or dying animals receive little or no veterinary care. Adult animals are continuously bred until they are so worn out that they can no longer produce. They die a lonely, painful death and are then discarded like trash. Puppies are taken from their mothers far too early so that many suffer from serious behavior problems. Confined to squalid, overcrowded cages with minimal shelter from extreme weather and no choice but to sit and sleep in their own excrement, they have no mental stimulation whatsoever, which causes extreme distress. Moreover, they often suffer from malnutrition or starvation due to inadequate or unsanitary food and water.
   Roughly 90 percent of puppies in pet stores come from puppy mills and many retailers who buy animals from such facilities do not care properly or even severely neglect their living “articles“.

   Apart from the excruciating suffering of animials in breeding facilities, the introduction of a puppy mill in the area would almost certainly have long-term consequences for the region’s rescue organisations and shelters.

   I strongly urge you and wholeheartedly beg you to take my objections along with the comments made by local residents into account when making a decision on this application. Please, show humanity and compassion and think of all the innocent, defenceless animals that voice, and are in need of a government who protects them from such tremendous suffering by opposing huge, intensive, indoor animal factory farms, in which animals suffer unimaginable.

   Thank you for your time and attention to this serious matter.

   Yours sincerely,

   Anna Medick

3. Dear Scenic Rim Regional Councillors,
   As Strategic Director of the Animal Welfare League I am writing to express our concern with the planning application MCU21/105, which seeks permission to breed dogs at 1359 Rosewood-Warrill View Road, Mount Walker, Queensland. We object for the following reasons:

   We understand this is a proposal for a large scale dog breeding establishment with up to 50 breeding dogs. Large scale breeding establishments do not provide adequately for animals. They are of concern because:
   1. Large numbers of dogs are held in the one place which usually means close confinement with only minimal exercise out of their pens each day.
   2. Female dogs are often bred continuously, with little socialisation or opportunity to experience a loving caring home environment with exposure to daily walks and play.
   3. Female breeding dogs are often killed when they reach the end of their breeding lives.
   4. Puppies are often poorly socialised or are born with health defects due to insufficient care and attention and overbreeding and/or in-breeding.
   4. Current legislation provides little protection. Having been involved in the development of the Queensland Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for breeding dogs and their progeny, we know the legislation is weak. The legislation does not require an initial inspection for proof of compliance with sufficient staff and facilities to ensure a high standard of animal care, nor does it allow for regular unannounced inspections to check for ongoing compliance with the Code. The Standards and Guidelines do not go far enough to ensure the animals' well-being.
   5. Even if standards and guidelines were sufficient, large scale dog breeding facilities are notorious for not following standards and guidelines, with many cases of atrocious conditions in facilities continuing for many years, despite efforts by RSPCA to inspect, provide advice or take legal action. Even when court proceedings are in process, poor breeders often continue to operate, and when fines are issued, still manage to continue to operate poorly. Large scale dog breeding establishments often go unreported because delivery of puppies is done away from the breeding establishment with puppies sometimes delivered by 3rd party delivery companies, so new owners are unaware of the conditions for the breeding females. We have also known of situations where people who go into these facilities to provide some care and attention to the dogs, are unwilling to report for fear that they will banned from entering the establishment and the dogs will then be worse off, as penalties and legal action rarely work. As well, we are aware of owners of large scale breeding establishments who clean up their facilities to pass inspection, as notification of inspection is required in advance. Once the facility has been inspected, the breeding establishment often then continues to breed from animals in substandard conditions.
   6. The Scenic Rim Commercial Breeding Licence is focussed on human health protection and contains little detail or a requirement for regular unannounced inspection to ensure that the animals are having quality of life and that this is maintained for the many years it may be in operation. As you are probably aware, such facilities are increasing criticised by the public as being out of step with how companion animals should be cared for.
   7. There are many dogs and cats in Australia who are currently needing homes, particularly in the current rental housing crisis where many dog and cat owners are struggling to keep their pets due to a shortage of available pet-friendly accommodation. Councils can support people to help them keep their pets safe and well-cared for, lobby for pet-friendly social housing, and encourage new owners to rehome dogs and cats that are homeless, so that all existing dogs find and keep homes, rather than enable large scale breeding which is inherently poor.
   8. We acknowledge that many people do want the cross-bred spoodles and shmoodles etc, due to their size, fur type, temperament and cute appearance. However, it is unethical to turn a blind eye to the frequent occurrence of poor conditions for breeding dogs in large establishments, just because there is a demand for such pups. If we want to enable people to have these pups, governments must insist on a model that provides similar care and support for the mother dogs. We believe that if breeding must occur, establishments should be home-based with small numbers of animals to ensure that the adults being used for breeding have caring homes for full and happy lives.

   We therefore request that you do NOT approve this application or any further applications for large scale intensive breeding establishments. Instead, we encourage and support Councils to implement by-laws and procedures that require small-scale caring environments for breeding animals and their litters with accountability built in. The breeder should be required to pay for a breeder permit that covers the costs of pre- inspection and unannounced inspections. They must also accept responsibility to support the animals they breed to ensure they are healthy, and well-socialised, and provide support to their new owners to ensure the animals have long and happy lives with help to rehome dogs if needed.
   Yours sincerely
   Dr Joy Verrinder BA MBA MA (Professional Ethics and Governance)
   AWLQ Strategic Director

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