To think that the people who pay extortionate prices for puppies are just as much to blame for the puppy farming trade as the puppy farmers themselves?

[AlternativePerspective]

It goes without saying that puppy farmers are despicable human beings. However the reason why they are able to unscrupulously breed and sell puppies for such horrific amounts of money is because there are people out there who are willing to pay their prices.And the more they pay, the more dogs they will breed, and so the cycle continues.

There have been plenty of articles recently of puppy prices more than doubling over lockdown even from so-called reputable breeders...

Yesterday I was talking to my sister about what to get my mum for Christmas,and as a joke I said that my dad should get her a puppy,and I found a link to one of the breeds we had as kids on petsforhomes.They were £3500.

Now I will add here that there was never any actual intention to buy a puppy, but clearly someone will buy those puppies,and someone will make a fortune from selling them.

So, if you’re paying £2500/3000/3500 for a puppy then you are part of the reason why the puppy farming trade exists.

I’m not going to judge people for getting a puppy tbh. I enjoy the puppy stage, terrible selfish I know but also I have personally found it so hard to be approved to have a rescue dog. We don’t even get a look in, but in reality, we’d provide an amazing home. We’re a sensible couple in our twenties, live in a cottage on a (naturally) rural farm. I work part time and DH is self employed. We have one dog already who is well behaved and good with other dogs.
Incidentally the dog we already have is a cockapoo, bought for £300 from a family member in 2013. He’s a joy and I’d not change him for the world... equally I wouldn’t pay £3500+ for another cockapoo, or indeed any puppy. It’s supply and demand at its most basic but I won’t contribute. Too many people looking to make a quick unethical buck.
After all this dies down tho... (eyes Labrador adverts)

When we got our first dog, no rescue would touch us as we had young kids - first puppy, sorry.

Why do families so often want to buy a puppy using the excuse of having small children, rather than rescuing an adult dog?

I don't want a puppy. I want a rescue. I have children, and therefore rescues won't consider us. We are now not getting a dog for that reason.

And then the same people complain about the high vet bills when their brand new puppy ends up being sick, often with parvo

I doubt my workplace is the only one that has made it clear that they do not expect to go back to working from the office full time. Apart from any savings they make with the offices closed, they have found they can access a far wider pool of staff when they can be located anywhere and still work effectively.

Yes, some people will have got dogs without thinking through their post lockdown situation, but I am cautiously optimistic that there won't be a flood of abandoned dogs as the vaccine becomes available...

Agree with pumpkin

Why don’t more people say ‘I’d love a dog, I love dogs, but the trade is clearly dodgy/unethical now so I’m not going to’

Rescue centres do have dogs but yes you may have to wait.

@dontdisturbmenow

There’s 8 year old kids desperate for adoption you selfish bastards Agree too. I'm not sure why it's unacceptable to tell people doing IVF that they should be adopting instead but those looking for puppies can be judged and criticized as being selfish.

I think you might not fully understand the distinction between people and pets?

I always see why get a puppy when there are so many dogs in rescues- there actually aren't. Rescue dogs are in equally high demand and even with their high criteria aside most dogs that are still there and not snapped up are there because they are not suitable for the vast majority of homes due to their temperament, care needs or past experiences and even people that for their basic criteria aren't suited to the individual animal.

@Qpobb

Two things I'm really perplexed by here:

1. Why do families so often want to buy a puppy using the excuse of having small children, rather than rescuing an adult dog? Is it for the cute factor? Or do they genuinely think that a puppy will grow up to be better behaved than a rescue dog? This is obviously not always the case, but I've seen that reason as an excuse for choosing a puppy over a rescue so many times.

1. Why are there so many breed of puppies with the word "poo" stuck on to them?!! Cavapoo, multipoo.... Makes me cringe but also surely they're just a cross-breed?! I even saw something about a St Bernard/Poodle Cross. Surely that can't be great as they're such different sizes? Back in the 90s and 00s they wouldn't be worth anything!

I'm not a dog expert but I'm genuinely wondering.

I’m not a dog expert

No shit

FYI a male Standard Poodle stands at around the same height as a female St. Bernard

Back in the 90s’ they were mongrels.

@Cuppaand2biscuits

Our school run is like a dog parade nowadays. All these busy working parents now working from home. Perhaps I should set up a dog walking service when people have to go back and work in the office, I could make a fortune!

I'm a dog walker and the requests to walk peoples lockdown puppies have already started - lots have had very little training or socialisation and I expect it will get a lot worse next year 🙈

I've seen a lot of young dogs with no socialisation skills or training out on walks - I can't add a dog like that to any of my groups, it would be havoc, not to mention highly irresponsible and potentially incredibly dangerous.

Sadly I think a lot of these dogs will end up in rescues or being rehomed online. A boisterous, untrained puppy is very different to a boisterous, untrained adult.

Back in the 90s’ they were mongrels.

No in the 90's they'd be a cross breed - which they still are but with a catchy name applied which shows what they are crossed between. It's unlikely you'd know what a mongrel consisted of, usually a mix of several breeds

It's the same with cats - a bog standard moggy goes for about £250 on some sites. More if they have more desirable colourings.

But rescues are fuelling the need for people to go to backstreet breeders.

Some of the local rescues I follow now have policies saying they won't rehome any cats or kittens if they can't be guaranteed they'll be indoor cats even if you live in the middle of bloody no where! They are bloody cats - 99% of them like to be outside for at least part of the day. 🤷‍♀️

@1Morewineplease

I'm just so sad to hear that people are spending squillions on 'shitpoos' 'cockerpoos' 'labradoodles' and whatever the current trend is. What's wrong with all the usual breeds? 'Asthma' is touted as a reason but I had no idea , judging by what I see in the park, that so many people had asthma! Particularly since March! No one seems to have an ordinary breed anymore. I gather that the creator of the labradoodle wished that he hadn't created it due to its health difficulties.

The ‘usual’ breeds are fine, I have had various ‘types’ of dogs all my life, cross breeds, mongrels and many pedigrees. They have all been gorgeous dogs. However, my cavapoochons are the most ‘special’ of all the dogs both my DH (also a a lifelong dog owner) have owned. They are simply wonderful and unique, they have something extra on the ‘usual breeds’.

There is a reason why ‘poos’ are so popular and unless you own one, you will never ‘get it’ and that’s fine, not everyone can be as lucky as us 🤷🏻‍♀️

Dogs aren’t babies but raising a puppy / kitten whatsoever is lovely. There is some comparison though which you can’t dismiss. Surely having children is inherently selfish in that it’s for the parents own pleasure and needs? You can’t argue it’s for the benefit of an unborn child who doesn’t even exist.

With rescue centres neutering dogs for re-home trying to reduce the amount of abandoned puppies in future it has played into the puppy farms hands too.
I know it is necessary to neuter in their POV to prevent more rescues.

We paid £900 for our puppy back in January. We have always had a specific breed and they have been a bit more expensive. This was around £100 more than what we paid for our 10 year old girl.

Our puppy is health tested, kc registered (although this mean not a lot really) etc etc.

The same breeder told me that they weren’t going to have anymore puppies from the bitch, during lockdown I had a google after a dog walking friend told me how much the cost of puppies had gone up, and guess what I found, the same breeder who’d say no more puppies was advertising a litter due in August, the puppies were being sold for 1.8/9k. Other breeders were charging around 2.5k I was absolutely gob smacked.

Having bought my preferred breed 2 years ago, from an ad in Pets4Homes - and been grilled by the breeder, visited the bitch and puppies in her home every week for a month, and paid over a grand for him I won't make any sweeping statements about the site...

... but at the moment sellers have an almost unlimited supply of people desperate to fix their broken world with a small furry cuddle. So yes, I do think you have a point!

What will happen to all these extra dogs once (if) we go back to normal life? Once we are allowed to go on holidays again, and on days out?

I would love a rescue lurcher or greyhound, younger than my current one (who’s 7), but not seen any!

Imposter to soon: all the ones available have special conditions such as “cannot be rehomed with other dogs” or “no kids, not even teenagers” or “kills cats” (my neighbours cats live in our garden) or “must have 6ft fence enclosed garden”

So I’ve given up on the idea of another hound.

Lurchers are often overlooked they are a beautiful dog.

Yes, it’s supply and demand sadly. However if you can’t afford £2000 for a dog then maybe it’s best you don’t own one. Animals are super expensive sadly and a huge commitment so maybe it will put folks off and that’s not necessarily a bad thing in some cases...

I 100% agree. These people are fulling puppy farms but I think the people buying these dogs/cats tell themselves 'No my pet wasn't from a puppy farm. It was a reputable breeder'. Anyone breeding animals for money is exploiting the animals.
I know it's not the same for everyone but I've known a number of people who were turned down by the rescue for one or a number of reasons only to go buy a dog/cat somewhere and then give up the dog/cat for the exact reason the rescue turned them down (dog/cat couldn't cope with young children, dogs/cats couldn't cope with new cats/dogs, family didn't have time to care for dogs/cats, family lived in tiny flat with no garden and giant dog couldn't cope, buy large breed puppy not realising how big it's going to get can't cope with size, etc) These poor animals are then abandoned, given to family/friends or taken to a rescue and now the rescue has to work to rehome a traumatised ill trained animal that some new family will be angry the rescue won't let them have and the process starts all over again.
Owning an animal is a privilege not a right. Some people really shouldn't have pets and I think the rescue rules have been created for a reason.

Poorlykitten Sun 06-Dec-20 09:43:10 Yes, it’s supply and demand sadly. However if you can’t afford £2000 for a dog then maybe it’s best you don’t own one. Animals are super expensive sadly and a huge commitment so maybe it will put folks off and that’s not necessarily a bad thing in some cases...

I completely agree with this. I've seen on Freecycle where people say 'just got a dog. need dog bowl, lead, bed, toys and anything else for keeping a dog.' Surely if you can't afford the basics you shouldn't have a dog??

These people saying rescues won't rehome with existing animals, I have four rescued dogs. I work from home and live near a large park where we regularly walk each day. If one rescue doesn't have an animal they feel is suitable for you then try another. Try back again next week or the next. I think the rescues genuinely try to find the right home for the right animal. Sometimes it's about being patient to find the right animal for you rather than 'I want a dog right now' or 'I need a dog for Christmas'. Maybe you're perfect dog won't be available until March.

The pricing is certainly exploiting the current demand, but I'm not sure that there's anything to be gained in blaming the people who are prepared to pay, provided they've properly researched the breeder.

Reminds me a bit of a Facebook group I saw years ago when I was doing my GCSEs: "Everyone stop revising and they'll have to lower the grade boundaries!". Cute thought but for many people the puppies are worth that amount and so they are prepared to pay it. If farms are separately trying to cash in on it all you can do is educate people on how to make sure they do not use a farn.