Survivors from a Welsh puppy farm
Lizzie and Crumble are nine and ten years old.
This adorable pair should be enjoying their older years snoozing on the sofa between belly rubs and casual strolls. And thankfully, that is how they now live their lives.
But you may be shocked to learn that until very recently, both were imprisoned in a puppy farm, being forced to churn out litter after litter.
Lizzie and Crumble were seized in Autumn 2021. They were removed from a Welsh puppy farm with around 200 other dogs and puppies. This is the astonishing scale of some dog breeding operations in the UK.
Neither dog was alone. Despite their ages, each had a pair of young puppies aged around two weeks old. In the UK, it’s the law that no breeding bitch should have more than six litters in her life-time. It’s better for dog welfare if they have no more than four litters. However, it’s thought that Crumble could have had as many as ten litters in her lifetime.
As well as coping with the physical effects of supporting two young puppies, Crumble was in a poor state. Hope Rescue Centre in South Wales, which took both dogs in, told us that Lizzie was extremely matted, with a knot tied around one of her teats. This had been ignored for so long that her teat was almost completely sliced off. And she was having to deal with the pain of that whilst nursing her pups.
Lizzie, meanwhile, was shut down and seemed very confused. Blood tests revealed that she had a liver shunt, causing toxins to enter her bloodstream. It’s unclear whether she had this from birth or whether it developed later in life. Either way, her ill health didn’t stop callous breeders from continuing to profit from her. Thankfully, she’s now on medication and her health has improved. But her life will sadly be limited.
Thankfully, Lizzie and Crumble are now enjoying the lives they should have had all along with loving families. But their stories illustrate why it’s so important that we end puppy farming once and for all. It’s dogs like Lizzie and Crumble who are hidden behind closed doors, being forced to churn out puppy after puppy.
Reporting illegal puppy farms
If you suspect someone is breeding or selling puppies illegally, report them anonymously to us here and we will look into your leads.
