Puppy Farming In Ireland

[FeeFee]

This is a pretty 'soft' video and generally sympathetic to the puppy farmers, but 30,000 pups exported to the UK every year is a horrifying statistic, where on earth do they all go?

Even if the conditions are reasonable and the dogs are as well cared for as they say, this surely can't be the right way to breed dogs, one place has up to 500 breeding bitches :rant:

 

[Juley]

Well I managed to watch it to the end. Appalling, just awful. The public really need to be educated on the "right" way to buy a pedigree puppy.

 

[Seraphina]

Well I managed to watch it to the end. Appalling, just awful. The public really need to be educated on the "right" way to buy a pedigree puppy.

Any kind of puppy really. I firmly believe that all dogs should be kept in home/small kennel situation, where they get individual attention.

But i just wonder; buying pup from a pet shop is most likely the way many people find easier than approaching breeders and having to go to the breeder's place. I do not know what it is like in the UK but here some breeders can be rather unreasonable to deal with. For instance, i know people who will not even talk to a person who first asks the price or what colours the pups are. Which are exactly the 2 questions prospective pet buyer wants to know. They do not care how many points the parents have.

 

[Hula]

I feel sick having watched that video . I don't know whether these people are actually stupid or what . :rant:

It's about time local authorities stopped puppies being sold in petshops .

Here in Edinburgh where I live the local authority does not allow puppies or kittens to be sold in petshops and that has been the case for quite a few years .

If everywhere was like Edinburgh these people would have to find some other way of paying their morgage :rant:

 

[TTT]

Where are these pups sold to? Do any pet shops in the UK sell pups?

 

[~Sarah~]

Sometimes (well quite often really) I feel so ashamed to be a member of the so-called 'Human Race'. :rant: :rant:

I just cannot beleive how these people are allowed to get away with this - how can their local council allow it?

I feel so sorry for the poor puppies, but the life the bitches lead is in some ways even worse - they live a prison sentence for years.

 

[Lal]

:rant: :rant: :rant: And they stand there, face the camera and try to justify what they are doing!! It's sick.... :rant: :rant: :rant:

Sadly, where there is demand there will always be somebody unscrupulous ready to supply. The public need to be better educated but it is back to the 'I want a cute little puppy and I want it now' without any thought to where the pup has come from. :angry:

 

[IanGerman]

Where are these pups sold to? Do any pet shops in the UK sell pups?

They do. Fortunately they are not as prolific as they once were, but it is not illegal to sell puppies and kittens from a premises that has the necessary licence (yes, they DO have to be licenced, but that isn't particularly hard to do)

Where do they get them from is a more pertinent question, and the answer is, unfortunately, from puppy farmers. There is quite a back-lash against puppy farming in the UK and slowly the general public ARE becoming aware of the conditions in which breeding bitches are kept. However, the attraction of cheap prices will always overcome some peoples scruples.

 

[Hula]

I don't know why any local authority would allow pups and kittens to be sold in petshops when it is such a bad practice ? :rant:

On the Isle of man you cannot buy any animals in petshops )

 

[wilfred]

I think, as well, some people have a sort of reticent view of approaching what they term a "proper" breeder; from conversations I've had with people I work with (in a school, so you'd have expected some people to be more clued-up but - not necessarily turns out to be so), they express the view that a "proper breeder" would charge more.

I have spent much time trying to explain that a "proper breeder" (their expression, not mine) has the puppy's welfare at heart: the parents have all necessary health checks before mating goes ahead (and the health scores need to be within the acceptable range for that breed - no good doing the health checks and going ahead anyway if the scores are bad). The bitch will live a normal life as part of a family home and the breeder may have had to travel some distance to find a suitable stud dog.

The pups will be reared in the home in suitable conditions (ie the bitch has privacy when whelping and with her newborns but when the pups are older, say 3 weeks, will experience more of family life - ie be moved to the kitchen so they see the sights/hear the sounds they will have to live with as adults in a family home).

My own view is that because most puppies are destined for pet homes (not a derogatory term) then the entire litter should be brought up to to experience life in a family home (vacuum cleaners, washing machines, pots and pans, TV/radio, family noises but not chaotic ones).

Before going to their new homes, the litter will be vet checked (heart etc) be wormed (normal procedure) and be assured of a welcome back at any stage of their adult life should the new home be unable to keep them for whatever reason.

I have only had 2 litters in 10 years and the above (and more that I haven't detailed) is what I did with mine. And I charged LESS than what I know some breeders charged because I was more concerned with finding good homes (though I had a waiting list and checked the buyers as thoroughly as I could, in a kind, sensitive way, before letting the pups go).

I have tried to explain to people at school that a LOT of breeders do as I did and care about the welfare of their animals. However people still responded to adverts in the local paper, went to see a puppy and although the pups were raised in barns, in awful conditions and looked sad, they bought the pup to remove it from that situation. They paid the going rate and yet more in vets' bills later because the pups were just churned out as a money making enterprise, without care or thought as to their health.

It makes you want to bang your head on the wall. What will it take to get through to people to do their research properly?

Oh, and the other thing that makes my blood boil, is seeing hand-painted signs on boards on country roads: ie "Lab pups for sale, phone this number". For heaven's sake - you've had a litter and any old Tom, Dick or Harry is invited to turn up on a bloody whim to make a spur-of-the-moment decision????? One has just appeared a few miles from where I live; I am SO tempted to tear it down and throw it into the field.

:rant:

 

[FeeFee]

There are unfortunately plenty of pet shops that still sell puppies, and quite a few kennels that may breed some dogs themselves but buy in puppies of other breeds. Look at the range of breeds these people keep, they are obviously taking in farmed puppies http://www.dogs4us.com/puppysales.asp

I've also come across internet sites where you can order your puppy online for delivery, you don't even get to see the pup in advance, any old Cav or Westie that turns up on your doorstep will do :rant:

Unfortunately in both Ireland and parts of England and Wales puppy farming is big business and an important part of the economy, some farmers have even had grants to diversity into large-scale dog breeding, so there's absolutely no political will to stop these places

 

[TTT]

I find this amazing - so some pet shops in the UK have cages of puppies and kittens for sale, just like you see cages of hamsters, budgies and guinea pigs?

 

[FeeFee]

Yes, it depends on the local authority I think if it's allowed in a particular area, but there are plenty of shops that sell puppies including a couple of huge places stocking hundreds of pups :angry:

Even Harrods were found to be stocking farmed puppies a few years back. They no longer use that particular supplier, but they've probably just moved on to others.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4133278.stm

 

[Lal]

Oh, and the other thing that makes my blood boil, is seeing hand-painted signs on boards on country roads: ie "Lab pups for sale, phone this number". For heaven's sake - you've had a litter and any old Tom, Dick or Harry is invited to turn up on a bloody whim to make a spur-of-the-moment decision????? One has just appeared a few miles from where I live; I am SO tempted to tear it down and throw it into the field.
:rant:

I have recently ripped down one of those type of signs near me :unsure: (looking both ways to make sure nobody was watching!). Positioned nicely on the approach to the local primary school, after all there is nothing quite like 'pester power' from young children to sway their parents and what could be more appealing than a nice pudgy puppy picture!

 

[TC]

All the time that people buy from here, they will continue to supply the demand. Honestly, the whole process makes me sick.

When I read something like this on a website...

Popular Puppy Breeds For Sale

The breeds that we normally carry for sale include:-

Bassets

Bichon Frise

Border Collies (none pedigree)

Jack Russells (none pedigree)

Cocker Spaniels

Cairns

Cavalier King Charles

Shih Tzus

Westies

Dobermanns

Poodles

Golden Retrievers

Beagles

Dogue De Bordeaux

Bearded Collies

Bull Mastiffs

Minature Schnauzers

Chow Chows

Labradors

Dalmatians

Samoyed

Boxers

Rottweiler

Lhasa Apsos

Old English Sheepdogs

English Bull Terriers

Yorkshire Terriers

Weimaraner

German Shepherds

Dachshunds

Norwegian Elkhounds

Pomeranians

Siberian Huskies

Staff Bull Terriers

Border Terriers

Scotties

 

 

We advise customers wanting a particular breed of dog to ring us before visiting our kennels, to check on availability. We can then advise you if the breed of dog that you require is available and if not, when we expect it will be. We have new pedigree puppies from our network of approved breeders arriving at the Dogs 4 Us puppy kennels every week.

Then all I want to do is scream. The trouble is, it won't end. Customer sees website looking all professional and thinks these people are obviously very compentent and know what they are doing. Company make fortunes from idiotic people who do not have the sense to step back and not touch them with a barge pole, but for me the worst bit is that quite clearly there are people all round the country breeding whole litters for these people. Churning them out and shipping them off to God knows where and to God knows who. I just find it disgusting and a crystal indication that there are people in this world that use lives to make them money.

Scary, very scary. If only people could stand up and boycott them to the point that their business folds. We live in hope I suppose

TCx

 

[FeeFee]

You're absolutely right that the only way to change this is to dry up the demand, so long as there's money in it the puppy farms and backyard breeders will keep going

I just don't know what more can be done to educate people, there have been TV programmes, newspaper exposés, demonstrations and lots of advice out there about the responsible way to buy a puppy. People either don't understand what's wrong with these places or don't care - or they believe the b******t they are undoubtedly given about all the puppies coming from 'approved breeders' and think this means a nice healthy litter bred in someone's home.

Just a thought, but perhaps if we weren't importing 30,000 puppies a year from Ireland perhaps we wouldn't be putting around 12,000 surplus/unwanted dogs a year to sleep in council pounds?

 

[Hula]

Dry up the outlets that sell them and people will have to go elsewhere .

It wouldn't cure the problem but it would help :angry:

 

[Windsdream]

:angry: They pay his MORTGAGE. :angry:

They are bred from once a year what for the rest of there lives

They dont even atempt to come out from there kennel.

SICK TO THE STOMACH.

 

[Hula]

I don't believe they are bred once a year .

I think they will be bred from every time they come in season .

Wonder what happens to all the unwanted Mums ? :angry:

 

[Lal]

I dread to think what happens to all the unwanted mums, their plight is even worse than that of their unfortunate offspring. I'm not sure what more can be done to educate the general public other than to try to keep the matter in the public eye. If something could be done to prevent the import of these farmed puppies from Ireland then maybe that might help, but unscrupulous people will always find a way round.