Will new laws cracking down on unethical dog breeding work?

"They can’t police un-microchipped animals, so how are they going to police backyard breeders?”

Author

Ellie Chamberlain
November 21, 2025

New laws will be introduced across NSW in December that aim to crack down on unethical dog breeding.

Some of the changes will include state-wide identification numbers for professional breeders, as well as the introduction of caps on how many non-desexed female dogs can be owned at one time.

But not everyone’s convinced the new laws will have an impact.

🧐 What happened: The NSW Government announced the new laws on Saturday, as well as new penalties for those who break them, including a maximum $110,000 penalty for an individual and $550,000 for a corporation that exceeds the cap on female dog numbers. Individuals will also face potential jail time.

📃The new laws: The changes are part of the government’s plans to improve animal welfare across the state.

From December 1:

  • All breeders in NSW will be required to have a Breeder Identification Number (BIN).

  • All advertisements for the sale or transfer of dogs must include a dog’s microchip and the Breeder’s BIN or Rehoming Organisation Number if born after this date.

  • There will be a cap of 20 non-desexed female dogs over the age of six months to be kept on a premise, unless breeders have been granted an exemption.

  • Female dogs will be limited to five litters in their lifetime or up to three by caesarean.

  • One staff member to every 20 dogs must be introduced at the breeding premise.

🏡 Local Impact: President of Friends of Kempsey Pound (FoKP), Marion Crowley, told the Mid North Coaster she was not confident the new laws would be effective.

Crowley likened the new laws to current laws around stopping people selling un-microchipped dogs, saying “people still do, all the time.”

  • “We see so many [dogs] come into the pound un-microchipped,” Crowley told the Mid North Coaster.

Marion Crowley is the president of Friends of Kempsey Pound, a charity helping to find forever homes for cats and dogs in Kempsey Shire. Picture supplied.

Friends of Kempsey Pound is a registered charity with a goal of supporting local domestic animals and their owners, while improving the facilities and resources available to local pet owners.

📈With demand, there will be supply: The state government claims its new laws will make it easier for people to find an ethical and accountable breeder. However, Crowley believes that as long as there is a market for unethical breeders, it will continue to happen.

  • “It’s the people that are taking the puppies, or the dogs, that are not microchipped and who are buying off them. It’s the market,” Crowley said. “People will sell them on Gumtree. And there’s no repercussions. So I don’t think it will have much effect, I don’t feel.”

👮‍♀️Who’s going to police it? Crowley said the introduced fines don’t mean much when unethical breeding is so difficult to police, while the “huge problem” of registered breeders over-breeding their dogs is still a major issue.

  • “They can’t police un-microchipped animals,” Crowley said. “So how are they going to police backyard breeders?”

  • “They can’t even police that, so what are they going to do with the thousands of people that don’t desex dogs and don’t care if they breed – or they deliberately breed them so they can sell the puppies for $20”.

"High priority" Kempsey set to receive millions in government funding dedicated to supporting youth

Including place-based youth crime prevention.

💡Boots on the ground solution: So what could the government do to improve animal welfare?

Crowley said in Kempsey alone there are “so many” unregistered backyard breeders, generally selling dogs that are not microchipped and unvaccinated for thousands of dollars. 

  • “Where’s the incentive to stop that?,” Crowley said. “We’re never going to stop seeing the pound filled up with puppies, from both registered and backyard breeders, until there is some sort of forced responsibility from the breeder.”

Crawley also wants to see more local council or government run or desexing programs.

  • “There are people that want to desex but they just don’t have the money to do so,” Crowley said.

ℹ️ More information:

Thumbnail: supplied by Friends of Kempsey Pound.