The Scourge of Puppy Farms

Every day in the UK a dog is killed every hour in council run pounds. Think about that for a minute. We, the tax payers, are paying local government to kill healthy dogs - dogs who just need a home. Meanwhile, local councils are issuing more and more licenses to puppy factory farmers to breed more and more dogs. It is lunacy. Councils are failing to properly inspect these puppy factories or enforce their license conditions and the animal welfare act. Investigations have shown dogs suffering with hunger and thirst, living in filthy, overcrowded conditions and some dogs needing urgent veterinary help.

Enough is enough. Our companion animals deserve better!

Puppy farms are large scale breeding premises. The aim of puppy farms is to make money, no matter the cost to the dogs who are kept in cramped and cruel conditions. The puppies are sold through pet shops, Internet and newspaper ads.

Puppy farms in the UK have been found to have as many as 200 breeding dogs, most kept locked inside 24 hours a day, often in complete darkness. They are usually located on farms, in barns, disused chicken houses, garages or any disused outbuilding. The dogs are forced to eat, sleep and give birth in the same area that they urinate and defecate. Something they would never do given the choice. In some cases they are treated worse than animals bred for the food chain. And the stupidity is that the general public keep up the demand for puppies and so the cruelty continues, day after miserable day.

Dogs on puppy farms are often neglected; matted coats, infected eyes and ears and rotten teeth are just a few of the painful conditions the dogs suffer. When breeding dogs become too old and exhausted to continue to produce puppies they are killed or a lucky few are given to rescues. The puppies also often have behavioural and psychological problems, such as aggression and fearfulness, because they are not exposed to the outside world.

We must put pressure on those with the power to close down these puppy farms.

And if you are considering getting a puppy:

• Do not buy from a puppy farm
• Do not buy from a pet shop
• Do not buy over the Internet
• Insist on seeing the puppy with its brood mother
• Better still, ADOPT, from an animal rescue

And if you still want a particular breed of dog then your local rescue, particularly Dogs Trust, will be able to put you in touch with a Breed Specific Rescue.

Do your bit to help close the scourge of puppy farms for good.