Acres uncovers poor practices by pet shops and farms
PUBLISHED ONMay 21, 2015 1:15 AM
A husky was kept in a cage too small for it and left outdoors in the heat.
Another dog was in a cage so low that it could not even stand up. A cat was housed in one made of thin wire, with no mat to protect its paws from cuts.
The Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) randomly selected 41 pet shops and farms, which it visited from March to this month. The majority were found to have flouted the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority's (AVA's) housing and environment licence conditions for displaying and selling cats and dogs.
Of the 29 pet shops visited, 11 had breached one or more of the basic animal welfare conditions such as providing a large enough cage and clean water. Of these 11, seven had received an "A" grade from AVA's Pet Shop Grading Scheme in February.
Ten of the 12 pet farms displaying and selling dogs and cats had breached more than one of the requirements. Unlike pet shops, pet farms are not evaluated with a grading system by AVA.
This article was first published on May 21, 2015.
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