Sunshine Coast Council officers recommend approval for Diamond Valley Kennels expansion

The recommended approval of a designer dog breeding facility with up to 60 dogs did not consider animal welfare concerns, a report revealed.

A Sunshine Coast designer dog breeding facility is likely to be approved despite hundreds of thousands of submissions against it citing animal welfare concerns.

Sunshine Coast Council officers said animal welfare was not considered in its recommended approval for Diamond Valley Kennels’ move and expansion to a Landsborough site.

The controversial proposal attracted more than 400,000 submissions which caused council’s systems to go into meltdown.

Submissions came from animal welfare group Oscars Law members and supporters with some labelling the proposal as a “puppy farm”.

The surge of emails were blocked by the council’s information technology servers which considered it a cyber “attack”.

Councillors will vote on the project at the October 16 meeting.

Diamond Valley Kennels’ cavoodle pups. Photo Lachie Millard

A council report said animal welfare concerns were not considered as part of the recommended approval because it was regulated by the state government and not a town planning matter.

The report said advice was received from the state government’s chief biosecurity officer and RSPCA and neither objected to the proposal.

RSPCA’s response said the application did not include information to judge animal welfare.

“The sizes (of the kennels and runs) may be adequate if the care and practices carried out cater to all the needs of the animals,” the RSPCA said.

“It is impossible to make a judgment of the animal welfare of future residents based solely on architectural details.”

They said dog breeding must comply with animal welfare standards and were bound by the Animal Care and Protection Act.

Diamond Valley Kennels has applied to council to expand its facility at a new location at Landsborough.

Diamond Valley Kennels is directed by Michael Cross and breeds miniature dachshunds, cavoodles, spoodles for about $5000-6000 each.

The proposal includes a relocation to a 21.2 hectare site at 2312 Steve Irwin Way, Landsborough, to build a facility for 60 breeding dogs.

It would also have a pet accommodation facility with 24 kennels for up to 48 dogs and a cattery for 20 cats.

The council report said due to the “high level of community interest” the mayor and all councillors were updated on the proposal throughout the process.

“The application received a significant level of public interest throughout the application, and in particular during the public notification part,” it said.

“Along with other matters raised in submissions, animal welfare concerns featured extensively but are not a relevant town planning matter for the assessment.”