Stop Puppy Farming

The Dog Amendment (Stop Puppy Farming) Bill 2020 was not passed by the Legislative Council before Parliament was prorogued. There are no further sittings of the Parliament until after the State election in March 2021.  

In accordance with the Dog Act 1976, the following continues to apply:

• Dog de-sexing is not mandatory, except for dangerous dogs.
• Dog breeders and dog owners are not required to be registered to breed from their dog.
• Each local government continues to hold registration information on dogs and cats in their district.
• Pet shops can continue to supply dogs and puppies in store.
• Pet greyhounds are required to be muzzled when in a public place, unless they have successfully completed a prescribed training program (undertaken by Racing and Wagering Western Australia) and issued with a green collar. 
  

Puppy farming is defined as an intensive dog breeding facility that is operated under inadequate conditions that fail to meet dogs’ behavioural, social and/or physiological needs. It can be a small scale or large scale dog breeding operation.

The department, in partnership with the local government sector and industry stakeholders, released a consultation paper on the State Government’s proposals to stop puppy farming in 2018.

The results of the consultation are available in the Stop Puppy Farming Community Consultation Report.

The department will continue to provide updates on stop puppy farming initiatives via the news pages on this website.