Badly Bred Puppies

Today I have seen a lady who bought a new pup yesterday which had been bred in appalling conditions and was very poorly, and it is not the first time I have seen this situation. The pup was a ´pedigree´ Springer Spaniel, although it had no papers and it was docked, which is now illegal unless done by a vet on a dog destined to be working. When the lady went to the house, after answered an advert in the local bargain pages, she found a litter of 7 pups and mum in a freezing cold shed. There were also 2 other pregnant bitches, the next in the production line. The shed had just been cleaned, and all the pups were sitting on a wet floor and shivering. The lady chose her pup, paid £150 (about the third of the price of a properly bred Springer Spaniel) and told me she felt she had ´rescued´ him from this dreadful situation.

She brought the pup to me today as, unsurprisingly, it isn´t well. It is hugely bloated with worms and crawling with fleas. It was also very thin and may have a chest infection. I realise it is very emotional seeing pups in this state but to buy one is not a good idea, they are likely to be badly bred and not given the correct nutrition for growing. They tend to be sickly pups and often suffer with health problems as adults, the cost of which can far outweigh the ´saving´ of buying a cheap puppy. It is easy to think that you are ´rescuing´ a pup from these situations but in reality all you are doing is perpetuating the problem, as the breeder makes his money and will carry on. The best thing to do is walk away and report them to the RSPCA, who will inspect them, and remove the animals if they judge the situation bad enough. You can report anonymously and it can take a couple of days for them to go round, so they shouldn´t associate any visits with you.

There has been a lot of debate on Petstreet and in the press recently about dog breeding and the Kennel Club. However, I believe it is the unscrupulous ´backyard´ breeders, and there a huge number out there, who are doing more damage and cruelty to dogs and it is these people against whom our efforts should be concentrated. I would like to see all dog breeders registered and required to meet certain welfare standards or face fines. This should soon weed out the bad ones, who care only about the money and not the animals.

Cat