Exclusive: A notorious kitten seller has been accused of thumbing his nose at a court-imposed ban, charged for the third time with animal cruelty offences.
The RSPCA alleged Con Petropoulos and wife Liudmila Petropoulos have continued to operate an illegal domestic animal business, while allegedly failing to provide veterinary care for cats.
In May 2022, in the second case to reach the courts, the Victorian couple was found guilty of 48 charges and ordered to pay more than $120,000 including a fine and costs to the RSPCA.
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The couple was banned from owning cats or working in any domestic animal business for 10 years.
They have appealed their conviction and the ban has been put on hold until the outcome of that hearing.
A Current Affair first reported on Petropoulos’ animal scam in 2017, detailing how he was purchasing cats and dogs from animal shelters and then selling them online for exorbitant prices, claiming they were exotic breeds.
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Petropoulos has also faced claims of faking breeding and vaccination documents as well as using microchip numbers of strangers’ pets.
Following a raid by authorities in 2017, Mr Petropoulos and his wife were convicted of operating an illegal domestic animal business.
They were convicted again in May 2022 and RSPCA investigators swooped again in August 2022, charging the couple for a third time.
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A Current Affair recently filmed what appears to be Petropoulos selling kittens from a car boot on the side of a South Melbourne street, something which is illegal for commercial sellers to do in Victoria.
Kirsty Gooding is allegedly the latest victim to be caught in his scam, after paying $2300 for Burmese kitten Tia, who is gravely ill.
Animal welfare charity Oscar’s Law, which has spent years investigating the couple, said there needed to be better enforcement by authorities.
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“As soon as he (Petropoulos) was banned last time he was selling kittens again within a few days or a week out of his car boot,” President Georgie Purcell claimed.
The animal welfare group also claimed that within a two-month period, it discovered around $70,000 worth of ads on Gumtree for kittens, along with 15 mobile numbers and several aliases all traced back to Petropoulos.
Purcell, who was recently elected to the Victorian Parliament as an Animal Justice Party MP, said she hoped to strengthen laws.
“We don’t accept that these cases can just continue to go through the courts and for him to receive banning orders and tiny fines, there needs to be much better enforcement and monitoring after the fact.”
RSPCA Victoria’s Chief Inspector Michael Stagg told A Current Affair they had several active ongoing investigations into Petropoulos.
“RSPCA Victoria will continue to pursue all animal cruelty offenders, including individuals allegedly selling animals illegally, no matter the complexity of the investigation or the time or resources required,” Stagg said.
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