We can but hope that the Daily Mail will take note after their disgraceful article promoting irresponsible breeding last week!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/feb/03/puppy-farms-battery-dogs

I hope a lot of people read this and take note.

That was GOOD!!!

Good old Guardian :)

What did the DM say?

This is a good article, and i too hope potental buyers take note. However i really cannot see how these sort of establishments are ever going to be stopped. All too many potental buyers want a puppy 'now' and are not prepared to wait for the right dog from a good breeder. Price i also think pays a big part, for regular families on a moderae income. £300 for a farmed puppy, or maybe double that or more for a responsibly bred one. (i know im generalising). An uneducated family are not going to question the way the puppy has been bred, because at the end of the day they have the cute puppy they wanted 'now'. Its only when the health problems and associated vets bills start to creep in that they become educated!

Its a sad situation, but the government are much more concerned with banning people smoking outside, playing war, and raising taxes to take any notice of the plight of these poor dogs.

Bless the Guardian they are not an animal (if there ever is one) that should ever ever be "farmed" like this its totally unexceptable. Totally unexceptable.

"An uneducated family are not going to question the way the puppy has been bred"

Then education has to be the answer and articles like that one certainly help. However it had a definite KC bias and it was disappointing that it didn't contain any links to other internet sites that are also trying to make a difference.

Maybe one of our members might like to comment on the thread :-)

I replied under Comments on the newspaper article which can be read under the above link. I think there are about 23 comments in total.  Pity, I thought there could a have been more, maybe others on here maylike to add their thoughts to keep the subject aired.

Here were my thoughts on the article:-

The article although well written with many points that I whole heartedly agree with, it fails to enlighten the reader to one very important point and that is that the largest majority of commercial breeders (puppy farmers) supplying the dealers and pet shops are licensed by their local Council.
However, Councils are failing miserably in their role of enforcement, particulary in Wales where the largest concentration of licenced breeders supplying the pet trade operate and support this cruel and inhumane industry.
The very root of of the problem starts with Councils failing to ensure that when they issue a licence under the Breeding and Sale of Dogs (Welfare) Act 1999 allowing a person to breed dogs that the accomodation is fit for purpose. It is not acceptable for Councils to grant licenses to individuals to breed dogs in premises that are going to use large disused agriculture barns, sheep rearing pens, pig styes and even converted refrigerated trailers as they do in Wales. Councils should not be accepting that these buildings are suitable to licence when they have no excercise facilities attached to allow the dogs to exercise freely, have no daylight and are receiving no human company other than at feeding times.
When Licenses are granted Councils surely have a duty of care to ensure that accomodation is of the same standard as would be expected when granting a licence for dog boarding kennels. But in Wales that is not the case resulting in very poor, animal welfare standards in a large majority of licensed premises.
Councils have failed to ensure that the dog breeders employ staff to care for the dogs and litters of puppies, even when they have from 20 to 150 breeding bitches on the premises at any one time.
Councils can place extra conditions on a dog beeder licence providing it is expedient to the purpose of the Act but they fail to to use the powers they have. They fail also to limit the numbers of dogs any one person can own and breed from allowing numbers to increase year after year. One Welsh Council alone has 90 licenced premises, with 3,364 breeding bitches capable of producing a minimum 16,820 puppies a year, adding that figure with two other Welsh Councils who also have a large concentration of dog breeders supplying the pet trade, together the figure is a staggering 162 licensed premises and 26,000 puppies per annum. This from just one concentrated area in Wales and does not take into account the breeders that operate unlicensed which is considered to be equally as many again.
Until the root of the problem is tackled by Government and Councils the puppy trade will never cease. The puppy trade has grown and is growing we have in the UK a massive problem of overbreeding of sickly, diseased puppies, of breeding bitches and stud dogs accomodated in often squalid conditions hidden from public view. Dealers and pet shops fleecing the wares of the licensed and unlicensed commercial breeders who are prepared to supply them on a never ending conveyor belt system of poorly bred puppies.
The public do not seem to appreciate the horror that the breeding bitches are subjected to in providing them with that puppy that they have found advertised in a pet shop, free ad paper or on the Internet. That the high volume breeding bitches live in atrocious conditions and are subjected to unspeakable cruelty to provide them with that puppy.
We must lobby the Government to stop the sale of puppies from retail outlets which will have an effect of curbing the excessive breeding of puppies in Wales and also the UK being flooded with equally poorly bred puppies from Eire that are regulary imported into the UK under free trade. Ireland has no licensing regulations for dog breeding at all and puppy farming is equally as rife and perhaps more so than Wales.

> supplying the dealers and pet shops are licensed by their local Council.

Can pet shops still sell puppies?

I thought the only shop that still sold pups was Harrods.

I can remember a time when pet shops used to sell puppies, but its not something i have not seen for years.

I would be dissapointed if pet shops are still allowed to sell dogs.

>I would be dissapointed if pet shops are still allowed to sell dogs.

Prepare to be disappointed; pet shops are still able to get licences to sell puppies. There are some very well-known puppy 'supermarkets' in the country.

> There are some very well-known puppy 'supermarkets' in the country

I am really surprised, i honestley thought it was not allowed anymore. Like i said i knew Harrods did, but i thought they were an exception. Theres no hope really then, like has been said untill councils/government stop allowing these establishments to continue practicing nothing is going to change.

can someone tell me what constitutes a commercial breeder? ie, how many breeding bitches on the go at one time?

I have just browsed net, and come across 'puppy supermarket' based in leeds. 36 breeds offered for sale! How on earth do these people get away with it?
Its ok though because they come with a 'six month guarantee'. I didn't realise puppies came under the same category as electical items.

You'd think puppy farming in the UK would be something that was fairly easy if not to stamp out entirely then at least to curtail about 95% through simple legislation and enforcement.    I can see how the problem of importing dogs from Ireland would be more problematic but you'd think a private members bill in Parliament addressing the UK situation would get widespread support.

I don't know about the rest of you but I'm not sure that the argument that education is more important than legislation really stands up.  In an ideal world people are going to research breeders and so on but for people who just want a pet dog the reality is it's going to be very hard to tell a reputable internet site used by reputable breeders and one which is less reputable and which can be used by puppy farmers.  

>can someone tell me what constitutes a commercial breeder?

Generally if a breeder produces more than 4 litters in a 12-month period they need to be licenced by their council; most people consider a licenced breeder to be a commercial breeder.

I didn't know comment could be made on the article as I didn't scroll down the page enough.  Will comment when I've thought about it properly.
How do I create a 'To Do' on this forum when I want to get back to/action something on a thread?