Puppy farming & dog breeding
Puppy farming and illegal dog breeding is rife, but it’s still poorly understood. Being a dog-lover is great, but dog welfare is about much more than keeping them stocked up on their favourite treats and toys.
Meeting your new four-legged family member is really exciting, but it’s a big responsibility. A new puppy can be challenging – along with the fun, there’ll be plenty of little mishaps too.
But chewed slippers and little puddles are a world away from the serious health issues that puppy farming and illegal dog breeding causes.
We often hear about puppies that have been poorly bred, exposed to disease, taken from their mothers too early and transported over long distances. It’s bad for the dogs and for the owners, who often face a traumatic and expensive time picking up the pieces.
That’s why experienced, reputable breeders are so important. They’ll raise puppies with the proper care and attention for their life-long welfare – before they’re born, while they’re puppies and long after they leave to become family pets.
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Puppy farms or puppy factories?
In Britain, we buy around a million of puppies and dogs every year, with about half of those coming from reputable breeders or from animal shelters.
The rest come from puppy farms in the UK and further afield. The term ‘farm’ gives the wrong impression – these operations are more like factories (in fact they’re also known as puppy mills). Dogs are bred intensively with no regard for their wellbeing, while unsold puppies are dumped, returned to the breeding sheds, or even killed.
For those that make it out, the future is often short – taken from their mothers too early and exposed to diseases before their immune systems have developed, many live just weeks. The situation is just as bad for the parent dogs, forced to churn out one litter after another until they’re either sent to rescues or in many cases, killed.
Puppy smuggling
As you might expect, the illegal puppy trade is fueled by illegal importation of puppies (otherwise known as puppy smuggling). Thousands of puppies are imported illegally into the UK to meet demand.
Smugglers don’t care where the puppies are bred, nor do they care about the condition of the breeding mums and dads. These frightened and vulnerable pups are hidden from view on their long journeys and some may carry disease. They’re then often ‘passed off’ as locally-bred family dogs when they finally reach the UK.
Alongside other animal welfare campaigners, we support calls for the minimum age of puppy importation to be raised to 26 weeks – something the UK Government promised to do but has yet to deliver.
How you can help
There are lots of ways to help with our work, from making a donation through to holding fundraising events or even getting involved as a volunteer. Below, you can explore the different ways to help us continue raising standards for animals.
