THERE are just days left for members of the public to have their say on plans to overhaul the way people breed and buy dogs in WA.

Developed by a working group of State, local government and industry representatives, the Stop Puppy Farming consultation paper outlines measures that, if implemented, will strip anyone but registered breeders or approved shelters from selling puppies.

Stopping the practice of out-of-control backyard breeding was an election promise of the McGowan Government.

Proposed changes include:

Pet shops will no longer have carte blanche to sell puppies, instead they will only be able to sell dogs from approved shelters and rescue organisations.

All dogs will have to be de-sexed, unless they have an exemption for breeding or health reasons.

Every dog will have to be registered on a centralised database so that they can be identified at point-of-sale or adoption, including in any advertisements for sale.

Introduction of mandatory standards for dog breeding, housing, husbandry, transport and sale.

Submissions close on Friday, but Maylands MLA Lisa Baker said the response had already been overwhelming, with 3000 submissions received so far.

“I was quite stunned by the level of public response that we have got, it has been amazing and I’m really really heartened by that. We have a real live issue that the community cares deeply about,” Ms Baker, chair of the Stop Puppy Farming implementation working group, said.

“The issues that came up are nothing that we were not anticipating.”

Ms Baker said the extent of puppy farming in WA was hard to quantify due to its nature, however a number of cases had been unearthed in recent years.

One high profile case was that of backyard breeder Faye Marie Armstrong who was convicted of 176 animal cruelty charges brought by Consumer Protection in 2012.

In 2016 she fronted the courts again, this time receiving a suspended prison term for contempt of the Supreme Court after she disobeyed orders that banned her from selling unvaccinated, diseased animals.

In 2014, Katherine Lisa King was found guilty of animal cruelty for keeping dozens of dogs in an underground bunker at her South Doodlakine property.

RSPCA inspectors discovered a further 38 dogs on her property. Many were suffering from ear mite and secondary infections.

The RSPCA has welcomed the proposed puppy farming changes, saying it bred miserable dogs whose physical and behavioural scars could last a lifetime.

“Regulations are needed to encourage responsible dog breeding, reduce the number of unwanted litters and homeless dogs in WA and give all dogs in WA a chance at a good quality of life,” RSPCA WA chief executive officer David van Ooran said.

“South Australia, Victoria and Queensland have introduced similar legislation and dogs in WA deserve the same protections under the law.

But, not everyone is happy, with some predicting the cost of puppies would rise.

Pet Industry Association of Australia chief executive Mark Fraser said he did not support taking puppies out of pet shops because it would send puppy farmers further underground and force prices up.

“From our point of view if you take away that one transparent means of buying a puppy then where do people buy one and the answer is online, puppy farmers, places where you can’t trace,” he said.

“I think it is better (for them) to be in a store so when people see something wrong they are the first ones to report.

“But if you see an add on Gumtree and you go and buy a puppy then you have no recourse. Generally people selling puppies online aren’t breeders, they are either agents or puppy farmers.

“There is no guarantee that the puppy you saw online is the puppy you are going to get when you go and pick it up.”

Mr Fraser said Austria made a similar move by stopping the sale of puppies in pet stores and two years later had to backtrack because the black market was flourishing.

When it was introduced in Japan 10 years ago, pet ownership dropped 21 per cent.

“We fully support the breeding side of (the proposed changes), it’s a good step in the right direction, but the pet shop thing is a whole other game.

“If you can get pet shops to source from a legitimate breeder who supplies an annual vet audit but also is happy to re-home and run adoption days it is a win-win.”

Breeders of working dogs are also unhappy and have called for them to be exempt from any change to legislation.

Mr van Ooran said responsible consumer behaviour helped stamp out puppy farming and poor consumer behaviour helped fuel the trade.

“While we recognise that the motivations of dog ‘shoppers’ can vary from that of dog adopters, we would encourage anyone looking to welcome a dog into their household to make choices that prioritise animal welfare,” he said.

“Ideally, people looking to welcome a dog into their household would adopt from RSPCA or another reputable animal welfare organisation.

“If people want to acquire a dog from a breeder, they should acquire the dog directly from the place where they were born to minimise stress to the animal, see the dogs’ living conditions first-hand, meet the parents and ask questions about the animals’ care.”

Ms Baker acknowledged the price of puppies could go up.

“If what you are doing at the moment is buying a puppy from a backyard breeder and paying a couple hundred bucks for it and buying it unsterilised and un-microchipped, then that isn’t going to happen.

“At the moment though you see dogs changing hands out the boot of a car, and in all sorts of places the problem that we have got at the moment is mongrels, cross-breeds being sold at $3000 -$4000, that’s just unconscionable and wrong.”

Ms Baker said she would like to see changes to the breeding and sale of cats, which was another problem area. The RSPCA has also voiced concerns about the levels of cat neglect and cruelty in WA.