Our kennel facility and breeding program is Chief Veterinary Officer Recommended and Victorian Minister Approved.

There are very few breeders that have met the incredibly high standards and scrutiny required to be granted this approval.

Breeders that wish to be Minister Approved must first receive a recommendation from the Chief Veterinary Officer of Victoria.  It's extremely difficult to achieve and the standards are higher than any other kind of breeder registry.  Unlike other dog breeder registries, to become a Minister Approved Breeder the breeder's facilities must undergo a physical inspection conducted by the Chief Veterinary Officer of Victoria and/or Animal Welfare Victoria Officers on behalf of the Chief Veterinary Officer.  This inspections takes about 6 hours.

Once the physical inspection has been done it's then time for all of the breeder's dogs and puppies to be inspected.  All the dogs and puppies must be in top physical and mental condition.

The breeder's Breeding Program is also inspected and audited.  If the breeder is successful, they will first receive a recommendation from the Chief Veterinary Officer before the Minister will consider granting approval.

So it's no wonder why most breeders either can not or are not willing to become Victorian Minister Approved.  It's extremely difficult but it does mean that Victorian Minister Approved Kennels are by far the most regulated and safe to purchase your puppy from.

In recent times we've seen an alarming amount breeders claiming to be "registered breeders".  So what does that actual mean?  Well there is no real definition of a registered breeder.  Sometimes it just means the breeder has a source number (a source number can be easily obtained from the local council without any inspections what so ever!).  It could mean that the breeder has registered with a dog breeding registry that doesn't conduct audits or inspections to ensure good animal welfare practices.

We've become more concerned about the rising number of dog breeder registries since these registries will likely be used by backyard breeders and puppy farmers as a way to appear legitimate to unassuming puppy buyers.  It's important that anyone considering purchasing a puppy from a breeder claiming to be "registered" asks that following questions,

• What organisation are you registered with?
• When was your last physical audit and inspection?
• When was your breeding program last audited and by whom?
• When were your dogs and puppies last physically inspected and by whom?

Some of these dog breeder registries have developed their own "code of ethics" that their breeders are supposed to abide by BUT if they do not conduct physical inspections then they just can't be sure if their breeders are actually abiding by it or not.  The other issue for these registries is the lack of any real authority to enforce laws.  Unlike Animal Welfare Victoria, anyone can make a dog breeder registry and attract breeders wanting to appear legitimate.  These registries have no legal powers to properly regulate their members and this is a huge problem for puppy buyers and of course the dogs that are being bred by the breeders.