Loretta Bastin of Runwell Kennels, Wickford, Essex

On Tuesday 23rd August 2011 was found guilty of contravening Section 1 (7) of the Pet Animal Act 1951.  The contraventions relating to puppies being on the licensed pet shop premises without the vaccinations against canine diseases and their details in livestock registers.

The offences occurred last year, ie prior to her previous conviction and before her ban on keeping a pet shop.

Loretta Bastin was given a 54 month ban on keeping a pet shop starting from 23rd August 2011.  This ban runs concurrently with the 3 year ban made on the 29th March 2011 and effecivelly extends her 3 year ban on 29th March 2011 by a further 2 years making 5 years in total.

It has taken Chelmford Borough Council a long time to  get to grips with this rogue trader but this year they have made the arm of legislation work in their favour.  It will not stop her or her extended family but eyes are watching ready to pounce and pounce they will.

Runwell not well run then!

There are times when I really wish we had a like button for posts Thanks for letting us know Pat.

About time that Councils followed through with their rules. Wonderful to see.

I can't see that puppies not being vaccinated at 8 weeks is a crime....BUT...do you mean to say that.... PUPPIES...are supposed to be on LIVESTOCK REGISTERS.....in order to be sold at Pet Shops....???

Since when were our Canine Friends considered as LIVESTOCK....such as sheep or cows or pigs or battery hens.... for The Consumer Meat Market.....???

Because of the very long saga over this outlet (that has changed its trading name so many times over the years usually every time the owner is taken to Court by Essex Trading Standards and Chelmsford Borough Council) the Council made the licensing conditions more stringent.  This was due to the premises selling puppies that became unwell soon after purchase. All puppies from these premises were obtained from Eire and were either vaccinated in Ireland or arrived unvaccinated. The licensed conditions ensured that all puppies were fully vaccinated at a set age with a veterinary certificate and vets stamp and puppies had to remain on the premises 7 days after arrival before sale.
But Loretta Bastin/previously known as Toye of Dobe Farm did not comply and for that reason was taken back to Court.

It is just the terminology used under the Pet Animal Act 1951 for all licensed pet shops they have to keep records of the animals that arrive into premises and to whom sold it is called a livestock register covers birds, reptiles, bunnies, kittens and puppies.

So let me get this straight then....basiclly.... the puppies are being shipped in from Eire by DEALERS.....who have got them from Irish Puppy Farmers...???

So the poor things have probably been raised in appalling conditions...never seen the light of day...by under-nourished frightened Mothers..who have never seen the light of the day either and who have had no chance to exhibit any natural canine behaviour whatsoever...???

But as long as they are on a Livestock Register and been vaccinated.... then thats considered Lawful...???

Unfortunately, yes because there are no trade restriction between Eire and the UK.  Puppies when sold as part of a business are classfied in consumer law as commodities.

As part of the Breeding and Sale of Dogs (welfare)Act 1999 when  it was in draft form before it became law the sale of puppies from retail outlets (third parties) was proposed BUT when the Office of Fair Trading were made aware they said that is not legal you cannot restrict the sale of puppies if they are part of a business venture because it be classed as a 'restriction of trade'. For this reason it was left out of the legislation and what became law was a watered down version of the original draft.  It is a great pity because by not allowing it to be part of the Act it has allowed the puppy trade to grow unbaited.   

Therefore I am of the opinion that puppies need to re classified from being a commodity and covered by the Sale of Goods Act and instead be classed as sentient beings and therefore as sentient beings they should not be allowed to be sold from third parties such as pet shops and dealers and only sold direct from the breeder.  That way would prevent mass importation of puppies from Eire as you so rightly say from unlicensed puppy farmers, it would also hinder the large licensed commercial breeders in Wales that supply the deqalers and pet shops throughout the UK because it would restrict their market of selling litters of puppies.

So as well as pushing for the end of puppy farming we should be equally as determined in our efforts to lobby against the sale of puppies from dealers and pet shops.  If the puppy farmers and licensed commercail breeders did not have the dealers and pet shops available to sell their puppies to there would not be the need to owners to breed from so many dog and mass produce so many puppies for the pet trade because they would not have a flourishing market place to sell their puppies to.

I seem to remember talking to Ken McKie and he told me that as the pups are registered as livestock they should be transported with the same rights as other livestock. Often they weren't and they had to travel in far worse situations than cattle. He tried everything, protests at ports and even contacted the P & O ferries. I remember him showing me a picture of a dealer in a vehicle with a 'Red Hand' flag on it another illegal thing.

That is an eye opening post Pat. Quite astonishing to think that as little as 12 years ago, the legislation was reviewed and it was still considered completely acceptable to incorporate in law, the means for this trade in misery to continue.
Personally I can't get my head around the fact that there are high profile campaigns for improving the treatment of farm and wild animals, yet domestic animals which share our lives most closely of all appear to have the least protection. This is especially strange when you consider the impact on human lives when a legitimately purchased puppy which has come via a dealer or shop, ends up seriously ill, dead or with behavioural issues.
I hope this is  something which the Advisory Council addresses as a matter of urgency. As you say, removing the outlet will mean puppy farmers will have only limited markets for the puppies they produce. What is desperatly needed is a unanimous, high profile campain to see and end to this.

I do keep trying to highlight the puppy trade along with other groups but we are fighting an uphill struggle, the main key players when it comes to being taken notice of are the KC, RSPCA, Dogs Trust they are the ones that usually get listened to and invited to meetings but talking over the same issues is all that that happens nothing seems to move forward and become law. So our self funding little groups of individuals keep chipping away and yes, we do get results, such as the Welsh Assembly with new dog breeding legislation, who actually did listen. We are attending a meeting next month and believe me we shall be pushing very hard for it to go through, we need to get a good result. But we need also to push hard for our Government and Defra to accept that sellling puppies through pet shops and dealers is detrimental to a puppies welfare. We all know it is why cannot Government ministers see that too.
If anyone feels like writing letters to their MPs etc asking for puppies not to be sold from pet shops then please do, the more information that is given to them the better.  Maybe then they will start to take notice. There is no need for puppes to be sold from a pet shop when there are good breeders producing sound puppies and will only sell direct to the puppy purchaser. I just wish people would stop buying from pet shops, there really is no need. Believe it or not the Pet Care Trust are an advocate for allowing puppies to be sold from pet shops.    

     

I have always said that seelign from anyoen but the breeder or stud dog owner shoudl be banned.

I quite agree, if people went direct to the puppy farms and saw the conditions and numbers hopefully they wouldn't buy, but from a Pet shop or dealer the misery is hidden.

Also most puppy farmers could not cope with the work individual buyers would cause them, not to mention scrutiny.

I find interviewing and having visits from potential puppy owners very tiring and time consuming, and that is usually only one litter a year.

You may have already considered this and got nowhere with it but is it possible to make 'fashionable' celebrities aware of the plight of these puppies so that they can put it into the public domain and make JP aware of how these puppies are kept, transported and sold?  Something like Hugh Fernly-Whitingstall (sp?) and Jamie Oliver did with battery farmed and barn raised chickens?  Or see if the likes of Claire Balding, Paul O'Grady and other known dog lovers would be willing to highlight this?  I wouldn't have the first idea about how to go about doing this but someone else might and we all know how much more effective celebrity pressure can be on bringing this to the attention of the media and then changing governement policy.

Sadly many celebs actually fuel the puppy farming trade, directly and indirectly, but a good idea.

One of my favourites is the Man behaving badly man, who has done series on our relationship with dogs and horses.