Gavin Bragg and his brothers Jeremy Challoner and Hayden Challoner know something about livestock - but it's not livestock as most people think about it.
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For a start they grew up on 100 acres in Bodalla that was used for raising ostriches.
But this was just the beginning for the three brothers, who spent their childhood immersed in the animal kingdom.
Gavin paints a picture of growing up within a menagerie of animals with a mother who was very "chillaxed".
It is their lifelong commitment to breeding and raising animals that gave eldest brother Jeremy an idea to build their own app - YouChoose. Gavin explained that their childhood was led by whatever animal that Jeremy was into.
"Yeah. We've done everything from breeding fish, breeding ferrets, rats, mice. guinea pigs, all the fancy pigeon breeds of racing, flying, tumblers......the list goes on," he says.
![Gavin Bragg with brothers Hayden Challoner and Jeremy Challoner. Picture supplied. Gavin Bragg with brothers Hayden Challoner and Jeremy Challoner. Picture supplied.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/232432949/a4f7524f-5cd4-4554-a965-0c9a6f51a1a0.jpeg/r0_102_1280_822_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"What's given us our unique ability to create an app like this is our broad range of experience in so many different sectors of the animal raising industries."
Both Jeremy and Hayden still breed dogs, with Jeremy taking a particular interest in stumpy tail cattle dogs, while Hayden breeds whippets. The next generation of the children, both Jeremy's and Gavin's, were carrying on the interest.
Born from a frustration with the livestock and pet breeding industries' lack of coherency and process, the brothers built a platform that essentially acts as a one-stop shop, or trading post, for the legal buying and selling of animals.
The app, which was free to download and use for sellers and buyers, allowed breeders of any animal to create a profile of their business, their farm and their animals.
There was a mechanism whereby the breeder can be verified within the application and receive a verification stamp, assurance to the buyer that the breeder was legitimate.
![Now living in Julattan, far north Queensland, eldest brother Jeremy Challoner had the initial idea for the app taking it to his siblings. Picture supplied. Now living in Julattan, far north Queensland, eldest brother Jeremy Challoner had the initial idea for the app taking it to his siblings. Picture supplied.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/232432949/97f123a5-ad1b-4ded-8687-d121b2b868f9.jpg/r0_0_3990_5993_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Breeders list their breeding animals and the offspring should they wish to sell them. The animal profile can include the linage, genetic records, shows, awards, photos and video, allowing a potential buyer to see exactly what they are purchasing.
The VLA, or visual linage, was a visual family tree populated with photos for a particular animal.
Gavin explained the pet breeding industry in particular had given many legitimate breeders a bad rap. The industry had been marred by scam, deception and unethical behaviours. Puppy farms were just one example of this.
"What we need is transparency," he said.
![Jeremy Challoner at a Kyabram show in 1998 with some of the first Wagyu in Australia. Picture supplied. Jeremy Challoner at a Kyabram show in 1998 with some of the first Wagyu in Australia. Picture supplied.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/232432949/bf6ba29c-a466-43e3-b5a1-feac3cb68d31_rotated_90.jpg/r0_376_4032_2643_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"We need to see who's there, see what they [breeders] do, so that a buyer can make an educated decision.
"If you go on our app and you see an ad with a puppy for sale with no information about it, and then another ad with all the information, the genetics, the parents ... what goes on at their farm, what they do with their dogs...you get to know who these people are.
"And if they have verified profiles all the better - you can chat with them within the app, and really understand who's who in the zoo.
"No one is going to want to buy from a general classified anymore when you've got the option of gathering all that information before you make contact.
"That in itself is going to weed out anyone who is doing the wrong thing."
Gavin believed the vast majority of breeders had the best interest of their animals at heart, and bred their animals because they love the breed and want to see the continuation of healthy and viable animals.
![Gavin Bragg and his brothers have an affinity for all animals feathered, scaled and furred. Picture supplied. Gavin Bragg and his brothers have an affinity for all animals feathered, scaled and furred. Picture supplied.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/232432949/6993f8ea-97f4-4cb3-8e1d-7e9d99624c5b.jpg/r0_0_3990_5993_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Gavin, Hayden and Jeremy were in the process of developing a secure payment gateway whereby the transaction can be completed securely, without the risk to the buyer depositing money into unknown bank accounts. Though this was optional and ultimately negotiated between buyer and seller.
Gavin said their vision went beyond just a marketplace for livestock in Australia.
They eventually would like to see the app extending to a worldwide genetic database of livestock. They also saw it as a means to ensure the visibility and viability of rare breeds.
The aim of the game was ease and transparency. The brothers have ensured the app was user friendly from the ground up, understanding their end users and potential reluctance for embracing technology.
Jeremy confessed he was technologically challenged, and with this in mind the brothers ensured the app was "Jeremy-proof", keeping the user experience as simple and intuitive as possible.
Having soft launched YouChoose late 2023, the brothers have been hard at work with developers to proceed with a hard launch expected in coming weeks.
YouChoose is available on Google Play and the App Store.