Puppy farms fill pounds with unwanted designer dogs

Since the end of Covid, NSW has been plunged into an unprecedented canine crisis – there are simply too many dogs and not enough homes to take them.

It is the same heartbreaking scene of big brown eyes looking imploringly through the bars and mesh of kennels and pounds right across the state.

There are simply too many dogs and not enough homes to take them. Since the end of Covid, NSW has been plunged into an unprecedented canine crisis.

“Every one of these dogs has an owner but they are simply not coming to collect them,” Blacktown Area Rehoming Centre manager Tony Gabrio said. “Look at them, they are just so confused.”

Even so-called designer dogs like cavoodles, pugs and French bulldogs are being dumped at the new state-of-the-art rehoming facility in Western Sydney.

The $39 million centre was opened last year but the unexpected wave of unwanted dogs has filled every kennel and even the chook run, temporarily home to an abandoned pig called Kevin, is filled with dogs.

Dog rescuer Debra Moodie with a litter of rescue dogs. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“We were getting half of the dogs back to their owners but now that is below 25 per cent,” Mr Gabrio said.

“It is very distressing for our staff. People just don’t want their dogs.”

The problem is repeated right across the state. Cats are also a problem.

A Parliamentary inquiry into pounds has received more than 100 submissions with councils all reporting pounds at breaking point.

The City of Sydney reported “a sudden upward shift in the number of impounded animals and a decrease in the number of animals being collected by their owners” and called for the NSW Government to help with educating the public on responsible pet ownership.

A puppy from a new litter of rescue dogs. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Another dog homed at BARC. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Blue Mountains Council said the unexpected withdrawal of the RSPCA from impounding animals this month left it with “an almost insurmountable resourcing challenge” with the bill to build new facilities topping $4 million.

In Blacktown mayor Brad Bunting said the rehoming centre earned $360,000 a year from registration fees and cost $4 million to run. Abandoning the animals is not an option. “We do it because that’s what the community of Blacktown wants and expects,” he said.

Ms Moodie with rescue dog Mia. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

The pounds inquiry is chaired by Animal Justice Party MP Emma Hurst and is expected to return its findings in the next couple of months. It will detail a system at breaking point with far more dogs taken in last year than the 21,500 in the 2022-23 financial year.

“The NSW pound system is at a crisis point – I’ve been working in animal protection for over 20 years, and I’ve never seen it be this bad,” Ms Hurst said.

Litter of puppies being cared for in the backyard of resucer Debra Moodie. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“Almost every pound and shelter in NSW is full, and surrender lists are months or years long – meaning more animals are ending up on death row or abandoned on the streets.”

She said Covid had created the perfect storm. People suddenly had the time for a dog and were paying thousands of dollars to get one. Backyard breeders sprang up to cash in but now people have returned to work, the market has dried up and no one wants the dogs.

“Dodgy backyard breeding, mass-scale puppy farming, the cost-of-living crisis and restrictive rental laws have all led to a dramatic increase in surrenders of cats and dogs to NSW pounds across the state – and the system is simply not coping,” she said.

Ms Hurst called for more government funding to help councils build better facilities to replace inadequate existing pounds of which some “are literally built into tip sites” or have just a few run down kennels.

Inside Blacktown Animal Rehoming Centre at Glendenning. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“We need to reduce the number of animals ending up in the pound system in the first place,” she said.

She is calling for tough new laws to enforce the desexing of animals, stop backyard breeding and unregulated puppy farming and a change in legislation to allow animals into rental properties.

“Rental laws currently allow landlords to refuse animals, which is being reported as the most common reason for animals being abandoned,” she said.

Inside Blacktown Animal Rescue Centre at Glendenning. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“Rescue and rehoming services are taking on the brunt of the work and the cost to rehome animals,” she said. “This year the Labor Government completely cut all funding to rescue organisations, leaving them with this rehoming disaster and no support.”

Western Sydney hairdresser Debra Moodie is the founder of one of those rescue organisations, Pound Rescue, which looks to find new homes for dogs on death row.

She currently has at least 30 dogs looking for homes including Mia, a part staffy, who was abandoned at a pound on the North Coast in freezing weather while heavily pregnant.

Blacktown City Mayor Brad Bunting (2nd from left) and workers at Blacktown Animal Rehoming Centre with rescue dogs. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“If she had had the pups that night they would have all died,” Ms Moodie said. “She had the pups three days later. The ranger called me and I arranged to transport them all here that week.”

Mia had eight adorable puppies, five girls and three boys, all of whom now also need a new home. Until they find one they are Ms Moodie’s responsibility.

Chris Izard at BARC checks the paw of a rescue dog. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

It is a burden that comes with sacrifice. “My husband came in one day and said ‘you have brought in another brown dog?’,” she said.

“It’s like the dress in the wardrobe, I told him it had been there for ages and he had just not noticed it.”

He was even more surprised to find a dog sleeping in the bath. There are just so many dogs in need.

“We need new laws to enforce desexing and to stop backyard breeding,” she said. “They need to know there is nowhere for these dogs to go. Just stop.”