Buying an Animal from a Pet Shop

The Domestic (Feral and Nuisance) Animals Act ensures that domestic animal businesses throughout Victoria continue to meet community expectations.

The Act does this by establishing a registration scheme for domestic animal businesses such as pet shops and adopting enforceable Codes of Practice for their business operations.

Before you purchase an animal from a pet shop, you should be aware of some important provisions contained in the Code of Practice.

Pet Shop Registration
A person must not operate a pet shop on a premise which is not registered with the Council. Before you buy an animal from a pet shop, check that the shop is registered with the Council in which the business in conducted.

Sale of Animals
All animals offered for sale must be weaned and fully self sufficient. Minimum age of animals for sale must be:

   8 weeks for dogs and cats
   5 weeks for rabbits
   4 weeks for guinea pigs
   3 weeks for mice

Juvenile birds must be self sufficient and should be fully feathered (moult permitting). Unweaned animals must not be on the shop premises.

Vaccinations
Dogs and cats must be vaccinated at least 14 days prior to sale to cover such diseases as canine distemper, infectious canine hepatitis and canine parvovirus for dogs, and infectious feline enteritis and feline respiratory disease (cat flu) in cats.

All dogs and cats sold must have a vaccination certificate signed by a veterinarian stating that the animal has been vaccinated in accordance with the label instructions of the manufacturer of the vaccine. This certificate must indicate the next date for further vaccination and any obvious defects. No animal with a potentially life threatening defect apparent at the time of sale should be sold.

Literature
Purchasers of pet animals must be given literature about feeding, desexing, parasite control, health (including procedures for emergency treatment during the guarantee period), housing, responsible pet ownership and current legislation covering the registration of pets.

Guarantee & Refund
If your animal is not acceptable because of health or other reasons that are supported by a statement from a veterinarian (excluding accidents) within seven days of purchase, pet shop proprietors must take the animal back and refund all monies or offer a replacement animal with the same guarantee.

If the animal is returned within three days for any other reason, the pet shop must refund 75% of the purchase price or offer a replacement animal with the same guarantee.

If the animal dies or is euthanased as a result of a disease that is traceable to the point of sale, the pet shop proprietor must refund the purchase price or offer a replacement animal with the same guarantee.