105 Dogs Abandoned at Australian Puppy Farm Described as ‘Hell’

A Perth man has been sentenced to nine months in prison after 105 dogs were left without sufficient food or water at his puppy farm during 40C heat. Twenty-two of the animals were later euthanised.

Jia Xu Dong, 41, was sentenced in Perth Magistrates Court on Wednesday after being found guilty of 36 animal cruelty offences in July last year.

RSPCA WA officers uncovered the conditions at the Canning Vale property in December 2024, after several dogs escaped while Dong was reportedly away in Albany for 10 days.

The dogs included groodles, golden retrievers, corgis, French bulldogs, cocker spaniels and a range of mixed breeds, according to the RSPCA.

Many had injuries believed to have resulted from fights, along with dental problems, severely matted fur and untreated medical conditions. The animals also showed fearful behaviour associated with prolonged neglect, the organisation said.

On a separate occasion, Dong travelled to China for two months. During his absence, 65 puppies were reportedly born at the property.

By the time the dogs were rescued, many appeared profoundly withdrawn and terrified of people. The RSPCA said the behaviour was likely linked to little or no positive interaction with humans.

The dogs displayed a range of stress-related behaviours, including staring at kennel walls for hours, resisting all attempts at handling and, in some cases, chewing the concrete walls of their enclosures, the RSPCA said.

Physically, the dogs were found with severe matting, embedded grass seeds, skin lesions, abscesses, ruptured eardrums, dental disease, dehydration and gastrointestinal illnesses.

The RSPCA said about 80 per cent of the dogs that survived have since been placed in new homes.

Dong, a Chinese national who moved to Australia at the age of 13, received the nine-month prison sentence after his conviction on 36 animal cruelty charges.

He was also ordered to pay a $5,000 fine for breaching court orders by selling a golden retriever puppy, despite having been directed to forfeit the animal in August 2025.

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Magistrate Sandra De Maio described Dong as a “devious and dishonest individual”, saying his conduct was “abhorrent and undoubtedly cruel”.

“His story changes like the tides. I simply do not believe a word he says,” Magistrate De Maio told the court, according to ABC reporting.

She said Dong had portrayed himself as a “hapless lover of dogs” who had sold puppies that were born accidentally, when he was actually operating a large-scale puppy farm.

The court heard that Dong may have bred more than 390 puppies over a four-year period, generating as much as $1.17 million through their sale.

‘He left [the dogs] to suffer in appalling conditions … he [was] uncaring of their welfare and indifferent to their pain … they suffered greatly for most of their lives,’ De Maio said.

She said he was ‘uncaring of their welfare and indifferent to their pain… (he) failed them entirely in all aspects of their care’.

The court heard Dong treated some of the dogs’ wounds with honey and initially refused to surrender the animals unless he was compensated for them, 7News reported.

Speaking outside the court on Wednesday, RSPCA senior inspector Jayde Palin said it was ‘heartwarming’ that some of the dogs could be saved.

‘Where you walk into a house and there’s just a mass number of dogs that are all suffering, desirable breeds, that people pay a lot of money for these dogs, you would expect them to be well cared for,’ she said.

‘Knowing that there are 70 to 80 per cent of dogs that I have helped that are now in the homes they’ve deserved ever since they were born, living their best lives or trying to live as normally as possible, I think that makes the job worthwhile.’ 

In addition to his prison sentence, Dong is banned from owning or breeding animals for life.