Ask anyone who lives in Melbourne how buying property there is like (in these times anyway), and I’ll bet you anything their response would be very similar to mine. Bleak, disheartening and downright frustrating.

Tim and I have been looking for a place of our own for two years now. And since we are still renting and living with a housemate, you can guess that prospects are terribly bleak. It doesn’t help either with the pressure we get from our parents about finding a place.

“Quickly go buy a house/unit/apartment, etc or else we will not come visit you!”

When I hear that one time too often, I believe I cannot be blamed for thinking “oh thank God, don’t come”.

The problem is, buying property here just isn’t like buying property in Malaysia. The process is different, and there’s a hell lot more red tape. You want things to move smoother and quicker in Malaysia? Doesn’t hurt to grease the palm of those involved. No one would bat an eyelash. Over here, it’s a different story altogether. Our families seemed to think that as long as we have the money, we can buy a place. If only it was that simple.

I’m not going to bore you with the process of buying property here. Look it up if you like. The Age reports daily on how volatile the market is, how foreign investors are making life difficult for first home buyers, unscrupulous real estate agents underquoting property prices (the bastards), all that jazz.

We did find a place we liked (well, I liked) about half a year ago. I put a lot of time and energy into the process, ringing up solicitors, building and pest inspectors, a lot of communication with the real estate agent, only to find that in the end, we just couldn’t outbid another interested buyer. All that hope into getting that place was dashed in an instant. That’s the problem with getting a place, I guess. Never have high hopes that you’ll get the place, because someone else (like a FOREIGN investor. I say it like it’s a dirty word because it is) will most likely swipe the property.

My close mates will know of the other reason we really want to move out. Let’s just say that after two years of living with a housemate, I’m done. I’ve had it up to my eyeballs. It was a big mistake not moving out and renting on our own when we got married, and the last couple of years haven’t been exactly smooth sailing, living condition-wise.

At the time of writing, we are currently in the process of putting an offer for a tiny unit. I want to say that I don’t have high hopes for this one, but you know I’m lying. I’m already picturing our freakin’ furniture in the place, for pete’s sake. Tim has a good feeling about this one. I’m just trying not to get there yet.

So keep your fingers, toes, whatever’s crossable crossed for us. For our sanity, at the very least.

Sometime last year, I caught an episode of The Oprah Winfrey show which had me tearing up badly at the end of the show. They did a feature on puppy mills. If you’re a dog-lover (in fact, as long as you have a heart, it would really bother you too), you’d be angry at the thought of puppy mills.

Puppy mills are what you would call puppy factories, where they “manufacture” puppies for pet stores and breeders to make a very quick and easy buck. Dogs are acquired (many a time dog-napped from homes) for one purpose, and one purpose only, and that is to breed with other dogs. Female dogs are made to breed, give birth and nurse puppies almost every year of their lives (many of them do not live a long life, and are ridden with tumours on their nipples due to over-nursing). These dogs are kept in very small cages, often stacked on top of each other to save space, and most of them never had their paws touch the ground. There was a footage in the show where a dog, which was rescued from a puppy mill, could not even walk properly on the tiled floor. Simply because it had no idea how to.

You may not know this, but many pet stores acquire puppies from puppy mills. The pups may seem really adorable in the glass window, but many of them would suffer from psychological issues, and you wouldn’t even know until you bring them home.

If you were to ask someone where the cheapest place to get a puppy, especially a pure-bred one, high chances are that they will tell you to buy from Thailand. Puppies from Thailand are notorious for being incredibly cheap. You can purchase a pure-bred Labrador at only 2000 baht, which is about RM200. Pet stores sell them at around RM1000.

I didn’t think much of this until I saw how these dogs were sold. My cousin Bea and I went on a holiday to Bangkok a few weeks ago, and when we were at Chatuchak Market, we headed to a section where people were selling pets and pet supplies. When I saw how the pups were caged and sold, it broke my heart.

Many of the sellers hold a hairdryer and a steel-toothed comb in their hands, blowing air onto the puppies, making their fur look cute and poofy.

See the golden Labrador pup on the right? He was quite the inquisitive and cheeky lil’ fella. He was originally sitting on the left cage, but managed to walk over the rest of the pups and climbed to the right cage. He also managed to climb over the right cage, but fell onto the floor letting out a yelp. The guy who fed him water (see previous photo) yanked him back by his tail, causing the pup to yelp even more, carried him by the neck, and literally threw him back into the cage.

Even birds for sale are not spared. Look at the sheer number of them in just one cage. It’s simply inhumane.

If you would like a puppy, kitten, etc why not adopt one from your local RSPCA instead? You would be doing those poor fellas a huge favour by giving them a good home. The RSPCA neuters/spays and vaccinates them, so you wouldn’t have to worry about it. When the dogs are not adopted after a while, they would, sadly, be put to sleep. After all, there is only so much room that the RSPCA can afford to accommodate the poor animals. You could also get them from reputable and trustworthy dog breeders. Just ask around.

I have a dog too, back in Malaysia. His name is Tiger, and I picked him up from the streets ten years ago when he was but a 3-month old puppy, wondering about near a market. He was part of a litter of stray puppies. He’s probably not as smart as pure-bred dogs, but he’s still pretty clever, loyal, and very lovable.

Tiger hates the camera, and never looks directly at it

Help eradicate puppy mills. Please do not buy your pets from places like the above. When demand is low, supply will dwindle and hopefully, puppy mills will have no choice but to shut down.

These dogs deserve better.