Perth Voice Interactive

THE owners of Pet Lover’s Cafe in Maylands have seen business plummet drastically following an online campaign accusing them of supporting puppy mills—all because they bought a dog from an eastern states breeder.

The family-owned business collects money for pet charities and says it supports abolishing puppy mills. It has rescued and fostered many animals and hosts adoption nights where rescue animals can meet potential new owners in the shop’s backyard, away from the stressful shelter environment.

But buying a schnauser from an eastern states breeder—who they say they thoroughly vetted—was enough to earn the ire of online animal activists who say they should’ve rescued a dog instead.

Cafe owner Natalie Goodall says her six-year-old daughter was dead-set on a schnauser, a rare breed with hypoallergenic fur. They kept an eye on rescue lists for a more than a year but there are long waiting lists for the bearded cuties and they get snapped up quickly.

They eventually turned to an eastern states breeder to find a pooch, satisfied it was a legitimate operation.

After a hardcore group of activists found out, the shop’s online presence was flooded with negative reviews (there was previously only a single one-star rating with text attached, from 180-odd reviews). “If you say you support rescue, then you should put your money where your mouth is. Disgusting!” Fremantle’s Kerryn Wood wrote alongside a one-star review.

“There is a reason why rescue’s exist,” (sic), Samatha Pekaar said. “Puppy mills/backyard breeding. Finding out that you support such a things is utterly disgusting” (sic).

Tia Mia Angelus, Debbie Stafford, Steffy Forrester, Tracey Elizabeth Hall and Laura Nash posted similar allegations.

A “puppy mill” is a breeder who keeps dogs in cruddy conditions, churning out puppies for profit with no regard for the dogs’ welfare. This week Labor proposed legislation to outlaw them in WA.

Ms Goodall says she’s dead against those kind of operations, and she was satisfied the breeder was humane after doing research and talking to a client who’d adopted from the same place.

The Voice contacted the negative reviewers, asking them why they believed the business supported puppy mills.

Ms Pekaar replied, saying the breeder wasn’t registered to breed schnoodles: “They did purchase a cross breed… registered breeders do not breed crossbreeds, they breed pure breeds. Registered breeders are those who have to adhere to various guidelines enforced by Dogz Online,” a pure breed dog community.

But in fact, the family had originally been offered a cross-breedy schnoodle but ended up going with a schnauser (which the breeder is registered for).

We asked Ms Pekaar if she had evidence the breeder was inhumane, but did not hear back.

None of the other posters responded to our enquiries.

Business at Pet Lover’s Cafe has plunged by half since the campaign started about three weeks back, and when the Voice visited on a Tuesday morning in prime latte hour the place was empty. Baked treats sat untouched and the coffee machine, which usually pumps out special lactose-free lattes, sat silent.

Ms Goodall says she’s not sure what to do.

“We can’t stay in the business with it being this low for much longer,” she says. “We just really need the community support, for people to shop local and support small business. We need people to turn up, have that coffee and book that training session.

“We’re transparent about what we do. We’re a family business who have nothing to hide.”

by DAVID BELL

PERTH state Liberal MP Eleni Evangel says “it’s impossible to see any logic” in Vincent city council rejecting an offer of bus lanes up Fitzgerald Street.

The Barnett government proposed the lanes as an “interim measure” but councillors voted against it because they had no certainty about what it was an interim measure for.

Before the election North Perth voters were promised light rail. After the election that was downgraded to a rapid-transit bus system. Last week that became a bog-standard bus lane.

We hear the Liberals are furious with the Voice’s front page mockery last week that a donkey and cart transit system might be the next downgrade on offer.

Ms Evangel says the council’s own expert administration recommended that councillors take up the bus offer, which would “facilitate more efficient people movement” in the congested area.

“The council sadly elected to ignore their own administration and deny our local community good public transport improvements,” she says.

“There seems to be some confusion… this is an interim measure, one that will provide immediate relief for public transport users in our local community.

“It will not replace light rail, in fact it will condition traffic to accommodating lanes for future permanent public transport infrastructure.”

Mayor John Carey describes the government’s conduct as “classic old school bully boy tactics”.

He says it feels like anything short of total submission to their offer “will be punished”.

“What is the end game for North Perth?” he asks. “Is it light rail? Is it a bus rapid transit system? Or is it, as a lot of people fear, interim bus lanes that aren’t even asphalted.”

Ms Evangel stresses light rail is not off the table entirely and it makes sense to check out advances in bus rapid transit systems to see if savings stack up.

by DAVID BELL

SUPPORTERS of marriage equality in Perth’s Irish community turned out to give a show of support to compatriots back home ahead of a May 22 referendum.

Irish abroad aren’t able to vote on referenda so the local community sent a message back: “We can’t get home to vote, #please use your vote”.

Perth had a good turnout compared with other Irish communities around the world, with more than 50 showing up to the South Perth foreshore for the pic beneath the CBD skyline (even New York only had 60 show up).

The May 22 vote will ask whether Ireland should add to its constitution that “marriage may be contracted in accordance with law by two persons without distinction as to their sex”.

Polls say about 76 per cent of voters are in favour and, despite Catholic Church opposition, all the major political parties are behind it.

by DAVID BELL

A BAYSWATER council-watcher is trying to get to the bottom of claims a councillor said rude things about him six months ago.

Ian Walters hadn’t heard the comments allegedly uttered by Cr Barry McKenna because, after asking in public question time why the council hadn’t accepted the cheapest quote for a tender, he’d left the chamber.

“I’ve had a meeting with the mayor but he says he doesn’t recall what Cr McKenna said that night,” Mr Walters told the Voice.

“So far I’ve had no apology or contact from Cr McKenna and the way the complaints process has been handled by the city has been very unsatisfactory.

“They’ve just brushed it under the carpet with very little scrutiny or investigation—in their eyes the matter is now closed.

“Cr McKenna has not even been in touch to discuss it with me.”

Mr Walters has lodged a statutory declaration with the city—written by a ratepayer who had been in the gallery that night—in a bid to kickstart a new investigation.

“I’m hoping to get a public apology or a letter of apology issued to the 80-odd people that were in the gallery that night,” says the pensioner, who has been attending council meetings for the past decade.

In December, a move by the Bayswater City Residents’ Association to record council meetings and make them available to the public failed.

“Other councils, including Bassendean do it, so why can’t we?” president Tony Green said at the time.

“All that gets recorded in the minutes is what was passed and the vote, not the nitty-gritty. We need more transparency.”

Bayswater is the only council in Voiceland that doesn’t record its meetings.

Cr McKenna—a former deputy mayor who has served on council for 24 years and was voted freeman of the city in 2011—didn’t get back to us.

Cr Albert said the city did not comment on complaints.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

SPUDSHED is set to sign on the dotted line and move into Coventry Village in Morley.

The planned store will be 3519sqm and involve the relocation of existing shops and a children’s playground.

Ye Olde Lolly Shoppe owner Jim Boyd say he is happy to relocate if it draw mores people into the village.

“We need a big drawcard and Spudshed would provide this,” he says.

“The only thing missing in the Coventry Village equation is foot traffic—a big name will provide that.

“Farmer Jacks attracts a lot of Asian customers but they don’t buy many lollies: they tend to get their daily veg and leave the centre straight away.”

Village manager Jay Strzelecki says most tenants are happy to move.

“Some of them might be looking for an incentive to move and there will be negotiations on that front,” he says.

“But I think they all appreciate that if this goes ahead, it will be great for the village and attract a lot of extra custom.”

Mr Strzelecki adds he does not believe the addition of Spudshed will eat into the profits of existing fruit and veg store Farmer Jacks.

“I would say that 60 per cent of their trade is in Asian vegetables, like bok choy,” he says.

“So I think the stores will complement each other.

“It is pretty standard for most shopping centres to have two supermarkets.”

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

AIRLINES are allegedly demanding $5000 to transport two tonnes of donated blankets, clothes and medicines to Nepal.

The WA Nepali Association is aghast by the attitude of airlines such as Singapore, Malaysian, Qatar and AirAsia, which he says all refused to transport the goods for free.

“They told me it couldn’t be done,” says Bhairab Dhakal, who is also an Inglewood restaurant owner.

“Time is of the essence and we need to get the materials out there as quickly as possible—people are dying every day.

“The price quoted for cargo shipping is $5000, that’s $5000 in donations that could be used to help those in need.

“If anyone wants to offer us free freight for our donated good please contact me on 6161 4475,” he says.

Singapore Airlines PR manager Bryony Duncan Smith says the association’s request is “under consideration”.

“A separate, short-notice request from an association member to carry an estimated tonne of excess baggage was declined owing to operational constraints,” he says.

“Our teams are doing their best to support global relief efforts to Nepal and this includes the facilitation of requests for cargo shipments from humanitarian agencies as well as charitable donations across our global network through our teams in Singapore and Nepal.

“Payload restrictions and ground congestion in Kathmandu are the key factors at play.”

Maylands Labor MP Lisa Baker, who lived and worked in Nepal for several years, says it’s “scandalous that any airline should ask for a large fee to send emergency goods to a country in crisis”.

“It is impossible to describe the impact of this devastation of fragile people living the most meagre existences,” she says.

“All of us, including airlines, should be offering help.”

Mr Dhakal—originally from Kathmandu—says the association has raised $55,000 in WA and $400,000 nationwide.

He and Ms Baker are co-hosting a fundraiser at his Himalaya Restaurant on May 18.

The magnitude-7.8 quake in April killed more than 8150 people. Around 6000 Nepalese live in WA.

The Voice contacted Malaysian, Qatar and AirAsia airlines but they didn’t get back to us.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK