A discussion paper and a draft code containing proposed changes to NSW's prevention of cruelty against animals (pet shop) legislation recommends that existing rules for pet shop owners should be extended to members of the public who sell or trade animals online and off. They include dogs, cats, rabbits, mice, fish, birds and reptiles. Mr Portelli has kept birds since he was 14 and says they are his big love - after his wife and kids. Credit:Wolter Peeters The proposals recognise the increased sale of animals online by owners who keep animals in their homes. Existing rules only apply to shops, fairs and markets. NSW Minister for Primary Industry Niall Blair said the changes were designed to update existing breeding and pet shop codes.

Loading They also addressed the inquiry into companion animals and puppy farms in 2015, which found there was "more work to do to ensure the welfare of animals across NSW". "I understand people feel strongly about animal welfare standards in NSW, which is why it is important to ensure our codes, regulations and laws reflect the latest science and community sentiment," Mr Blair said. "It is natural for people to be concerned if they think this process may unduly impact on them or their businesses." The NSW Department of Primary Industries recently agreed to hold another round of consultations on the changes.

Many pet owners owners fear the changes - drawn up in consultation with the Animal Welfare Advisory Council - are designed to ultimately eradicate pet ownership in Australia, which is the agenda of the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals. Nathan Rosen, 18, with his pet central bearded dragon. Credit:Nick Moir In the short term, pet owners claim the proposals could eliminate the breeding of animals by amateurs and hobbyists and restrict pet ownership to those animals that can't reproduce. "It seems the underlying agenda is to stop people owning animals - and pets - outright," said Michael Donnelly, a representative of the Herpetocultural Co-operative of NSW. The proposed requirements were ludicrous and impractical, he said. A family with a pair of lizards, which bred up to 30 hatchlings a year, would be classified as a pet shop (and required to document, and identify every pet with a ring or a chip) if they chose to sell or give them away.

Mr Donnelly said he didn't keep lizards or birds for profit: "I am a hobbyist: I do this because I love the animals. I love the peace of mind they bring me." If implemented, the new rules would "destroy my every day as I know it". A Change.org petition says "No one supports 'puppy farms' - as a society we loathe them." But if the proposals become law they would criminalise children who keep pets that breed and force people who can't afford to register as a pet shop to dump animals, it says. Sam Davis, the president of the Canary and Cage Bird Federation of Australia representing 100 clubs in NSW, said the proposals were a "massive overreach". Loading His mother kept a pair of budgerigars. Because she donated a few birds to the local school every year, she would probably be considered a "pet shop" and would be required to have a veterinarian on call, get TAFE training, and document each animal's physical and psychological health on arrival.

"Even if you are a pet shop, the regulations are insane," he said. Changes in 2008 wiped out many small pet shops, he said, and these would kill more. Brian Crump, spokesman for Dogs NSW, said the organisation supported changes to eliminate substandard puppy farms. But the rules represented an over-regulation of what was a hobby for most of its 10,000 members, whose dogs had litters once every year or two. "This is destroying what they do at home, where dogs are in the house with them, with regulations such as the height of the walls, the temperature, the size of the kennel," Mr Crump said. The draft suggestion that anyone who sold a pet had to have a TAFE certificate 2 in animal studies was "crazy, really stupid", Mr Crump said. "This is about how to look after a pet shop, and has nothing to do with breeding animals."



'My hobby could come to an end' Gerry Portelli has been keeping birds since he was 14, and fears his passion and hobby could come to an end if he is classified as a pet shop owner. Mr Portelli with his son Eric, daughter Claire and some of his finch ribbons at his home in Sans Souci. Credit:Wolter Peeters His brightly coloured gouldian finches are kept in an aviary as clean and neat as the family's pristine home in Sans Souci, NSW.

The garden is planted with grasses the birds love. "Dad likes to freeze the seeds so they have 'greens' in winter, " his daughter Clare, 11, said. In a small shed, Mr Portelli breeds maggots to feed the birds, which are native to the Kimberly region in WA but hard to find in the wild now. The Portellis' family aviary is full of fresh tea tree branches for the birds to roost. The Portelli family aviary is filled with brightly-coloured finches. Credit:Wolter Peeters Mr Portelli has a small business repairing wheelchairs but his day starts and ends in the aviary. After his wife Meg and his children, Clare, and Eric, 14, he said these birds were his big love.

If he sells the birds, it is for $20 each to another hobbyist. Mostly he swaps birds at competitions like the Easter Show. These swaps also make him a pet shop owner under the draft. "I like to see the bird grow up, I breed them, and take them to the Easter show, and looking at these ribbons, I can see I did a good job at breeding high quality birds," he said. "This is my hobby and time and something to keep my mind going. What else? I am not going to smoke, gamble or drink." Details of the proposed draft regulations If a member of the public is classified as a "pet shop owner" because they sell, trade or donate an animal or they breed animals for sale they would be required to: