EXCLUSIVE: Puppy stud in Uralla

The find comes as state politicians prepare to visit Armidale next month as part of their inquiry into puppy factories.

The Express went to Banaweera stud after a tip-off from solicitor Judy Scrivener.

She visited the property undercover last month, when she claimed she found “multiple litters of puppies” with their mothers locked out. 

One littler was only two weeks old.

Mrs Scrivener says she chatted to puppy farm owner Ann Press, who lives on the property with her son Glenn, under the guise of wanting to find a puppy for her friend. 

“We talked for a while about the dogs she had on the property; eventually she took us round the side of the house on to the verandah, where she keeps the puppies,” Ms Scrivener said.

BANAWEERA Stud operator Ann Press is among 350 people who have submitted documents to a parliamentary inquiry probing puppy factories.

The Express made a surprise visit to the property this week after the tip-off from Judy Scrivener.

The farm had countless dogs in and out of makeshift cages.

Some dogs were chained in the rain while others sought refuge in plastic kennels and under corrugated iron.

Ms Press gave a tour of her stud to The Express.

“I’ve been breeding for 41 years and lived on the property for the same amount of time,” she said.

There were 70 breeding bitches included in the 183 dogs on the property.

“I need to sell puppies for at least $300 to break even,” Ms Press said.

She had just sold greyhounds to a breeder in Western Australia for $650.

Italian greyhounds, teacup poodles, noodles and Yorkshire terriers were just some of the dogs she bred, Ms Press said.

The dogs seen by The Express were homed in old cages, many of which were exposed to the elements.

But Ms Press also showed a line of new, larger cages being built on the property.

She also said it was hard to run a breeding program such as hers and that increased controls on the industry would mean people paying more for their puppies.

But she warned off The Express from visiting the verandah on which Ms Scrivener claimed were cages of puppies stacked one above the other. “You can’t go there,” she said. Mrs Scrivener is from Dogs Without Borders and wants to see a change in the laws that would raise standards of properties on which pups were bred.

She said what she saw at Banaweera when she visited with a friend was “beyond disturbing”.

Ms Press eventually agreed to take her to the verandah, where puppies were kept.

“There were cages full of puppies stacked on top of each other,” Mrs Scrivener said in a signed statutory declaration.

“One cage had two what looked like Maltese terriers in it, it was cold, they were shivering [and] one wasn’t moving at all.”

Another puppy the pair came across was moments from death,  Ms Scrivener claimed.

“It didn’t respond to anything, was skinny and gaunt.”

Ms Press admitted to Ms Scrivener the dog was sick but she had just given it half of one of her own heart medication tablets.

Further on from the verandah the pair came across the puppy room,  which was once was a laundry but now full of litters. “None of the litters were accompanied by their mothers, she [Mrs Press] said that ‘it was unhealthy for the puppies to constantly be in contact with their mothers’.”

Ms Scrivener believed that at least a few of the litters were only two weeks old.

Nothern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall is chairing the Joint Select Committee on Companion Animal Breeding Practices in NSW.

“I’m looking forward to having the inquiry in our region to hear first-hand from people involved in companion animal breeding and also those who have been impacted by the actions and practices of puppy factory operators,” he said.

There have been more than 350 written submissions to the inquiry and 2200 items of correspondence.

Committee members will meet in Armidale on Tuesday, July 14 to hear witnesses and take submissions. Two public hearings will also be held in Sydney.

During its visit to Armidale, Mr Marshall said the committee would hear evidence and conduct a site visit.