To wonder why on earth people still buy from puppy farms?

[hennaoj]

Why oh why do people buy puppies from the likes of Kelly's Kennels and Douglas Hall Kennels?

This is where the poor puppies come from. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-32308177
Surely people know that you need to see the puppies mother before buying? Never mind the fact that these puppies won't be dna health tested.

I require licensing by the same Borough Council as Douglas Hall, I am not a breeder.

I asked the licensing officer the same question, they are currently 5☆ rated.
His answer, because they meet all the criteria 🤷🏻
There is no moral/ethical judgement, it is purely a box ticking exercise and they manage to tick all the boxes.

Laziness.

And ignorance in some cases. You get people who have never owned a dog before, think that they are cute accessories and do no research. And they believe the fairy tale that the people who run these farms weave for them. And then more often than not, the puppies end up seriously ill because of bad breeding/treatment at the farm, or they end up in rescue centres because their new owners have realized that they are hard work, they bark, they jump up, they don't come fully trained, they pee and poo (who knew puppies actually pee and poo?🙄) th

Want, want, want. And want it now.

It's quite simple really. People still buy from puppy farms because they are not very well informed and don't properly do their research. Or in the kindest way possible they are just stupid.

I have huge issues with any kind of dog breeding, farmed or even fully above board, when there are so many dogs in rescue kennels. The one near us is overflowing and they are desperate.

the whole story about them not letting dogs to go to places without secure gardens or with young children should imho make people in those situations realise that getting a dog isn’t for them. It’s not a right to own a dog.

I have no time for people who randomly decide they fancy a litter from their own dog either. It’s a huge undertaking and a massive stress for the dog. Just so selfish people can see the cute puppies. Makes me rage.

They convince themselves they're rescuing the puppy rather than just encouraging bad breeders to breed more. Or they just want a quick and easy no questions asked sale where no one cares that they're out at work all day and the puppy will spend most of it's time alone.

Pugnacious??? How dare he! In fairness he was a nightmare in his younger days but is more chilled now he's hit 14.

My parents have greyhounds and the females have folded up small. It'll definitely have greyhounds again in my life at some point.

You're doing the exact same as the thing you criticise.

'Dog farms are ok because some people don't care about pig farms'. Your logic doesn't make sense and you're equally hypocritical

Why would pug farms be bad then? You seem to think it's all fine

I think it is because these puppy farms are legal, and if they were really bad the government would make them illegal.

@hennaoj getting a dog from a KC registered show home is absolutely no way to guarantee the dog has been well treated. We adopted a 2 year old from a KC show home, breeder was a senior judge at Crufts. The dog was an absolute basket case (terrified of everything, would wet herself if you spoke to her, never mind touched her, would cram herself into the smallest places to try and hide) and we subsequently discovered she’d been continually crated, other than let out for exercise. Breeder was a dreadful woman who did not give a shiny shite about the welfare of her dogs, only how they “looked in the ring”. It took us two years to get the dog right, but she came good in the end. I dread to think how her life would have been if she’d stayed with her “reputable” breeder.

I can believe this because the footage in the BBC film isn't anywhere near the worst I've seen of puppy farms. As puppy farms go the one shown was "good".

Often the dogs are kept in much smaller cages with wire bottoms, the cages are stacked on top of each other so the dogs waste passes through the wire onto the dogs in the cages below. The waste is not cleaned up and when the dire situation comes to light and rescue organisations go in they have to wear respirators and eye protection because the air is so thick with ammonia it's harmful to health. Many of the breeding bitches kept in those conditions have impaired sight because of the corneal ulceration caused by ammonia fumes.

Matted fur may grow around limbs so tightly the limb dies and literally falls off, other dogs have to be cut out of cages because their fur has grown through the wire.

The breeding practices of puppy farmers mean that dogs with health conditions are not screened out of the breeding program so puppies from puppy farms are more likely to have chronic health conditions such as epilepsy, kidney failure, hip dysplasia and dental problems.

Dogs from puppy farms will be removed from their mother and litter mates far to early and the lack of human interaction means they will not be well socialized which increases the risk of behavioural problems. Choosing a puppy over a rescue dog is not the way to avoid a dog with behavioural problems.

I do not approve of many farming practices and I do not eat meat but I have had quite a bit of exposure to sheep and dairy farms and have never seen conditions for animals as bad as they are at your a stage puppy farm. Regulations and necessity mean that you cannot breed livestock for food without some veterinary intervention and a vet would be obliged to report a farmer not adhering to the standards for animal welfare.

Comparing raising animals for food to puppy farms proves the point I made earlier in the thread about adults being unable to distinguish between want and need.

If you don't eat you die, if you don't have a dog nothing bad happens to you.

People do need to eat. They don't need to have a cute puppy. And, two wrongs don't make a right.

Ignorance. Wanting a cute puppy. It's people across the social spectrum. They don't care, you can buy exactly what you want on Amazon etc and time so they think why can't you do the same with animals. I have been disgusted to hear people I know meeting people at service stations to buy a puppy. FFS. Or buying at a pet shop in a other country.
I volunteer for CP so it's similar with cats.The "breeders" don't care, just want to make money off their animals. As for the supposed ethical breeders, they're still adding to the problems with certain breeds.
I honestly think people should spend time at a rescue before taking on an animal. They may realise the reality a lot more and perhaps why their home isn't suitable.
I have lots more I could say!

It's the unintended consequence of it becoming the right thing to do to spay/neuter almost all pets.

People used to have a litter or two from their pet and give the pups away. Yes there were too many, and some pairings that were not ideal, but most of the mongrels that existed didn't have the health conditions common these days.

It is the scarcity, lack of availability that has driven up prices and bad practices/criminal activity.

I see on here a lot of negativity about 'back yard breeders'. But surely it being ok for a loved pet to have a planned litter with a friendly dog from down the road becoming more common again is preferable to farming.

And yes, of course there are the rescues, but they have often impossibly high hurdles and some people will always want a puppy.

There must be better balance to be found because the current system is broken.

I think a lot of it is ignorance of how awful people can be to animals. I've never owned a dog and if I wanted to buy one would absolutely research like mad first but honestly it would never occur to me that people would rent houses and bring in dogs and fake mums to show them on the day. I could absolutely see myself being taken in by that because I'd be looking for a friendly family dog that's used to children rather than a specific breed with known issues and probably wouldn't qualify for a rescue because I work full time even if it is from home.

There's a failure to recognize that these are companion animals and should not be 'farmed'.
It's well known that there are psychological issues resulting from farming dogs. This dog is either going to be a happy member of your family for up to 15 years or is going to be an ailing, unhappy pet with behavioral issues.
It's in your best interests to make sure it's a happy pet so simply don't buy from puppy farms.

@Winterscomingagain It's all very well for you to say that but why does the government not think this is an issue. I assume they have consulted the RSPCA and considered the welfare of the dogs and decided it is fine. As long as puppy farms are legal, the general public will continue buying puppies from them.

It doesn’t guarantee you’ve found a good breeder, no, you still have to weed out bad ones... but it’s a better starting point, and really good breeders honestly rarely have 2 year old dogs to rehome - they should only have the extra puppies from the litter they’ve bred.

No it isn’t better. Stopping all breeding and emptying out the rescues is the better option.

Because their level is, the bare minimum welfare that it isn’t neglect, but, if you want a happy healthy pet, you should want better than that.

As to why they don’t have higher standards, no clue, other countries have much stricter laws around breeding dogs.

What a comment!
Anyone that cannot afford to buy in the first place shouldn’t have a dog, as they certainly wont be able to afford it in the long run.

They don’t need to eat meat though. (I do, as it happens, but I can still recognise that your argument doesn’t hold water.)

Thank you to @FOJN and @Vinorosso74 for describing the dreadful circumstances of puppy farms so eloquently. And I agree with @WowIlikereallyhateyou regarding the long-term costs associated with pet ownership. I think most people who have never owned a cat or a dog underestimate how much it'll cost over a lifetime.

There are too many people who want pets who really shouldn't. For all kinds of reasons. And there are too many cats and dogs in rescues waiting to get rehomed. There is currently no need to breed them. If we ever get to a point where there is a severe shortage of pets we can think again, but I doubt that'll happen in my lifetime.

Yes, the rules and standards set by some rescues seem OTT, but they are there for a reason. Also, I know from my experience as an adoption centre volunteer that rescues are often willing to be flexible if you initiate personal contact and try to persuade them that yours will be a suitable home for a specific animal, even if you don't tick all the boxes.

Thank you for this post and the replies.

I had no idea.

Truly shocking!

The rescues will never be empty; not all the dogs in rescue are there because of feckless owners.

I've been saying for years, its all very well shouting at people for buying from the wrong breeder but if you are a new buyer you probably google 'puppies for sale'
It would help if every search for 'puppies for sale' had as the top links info on how to buy a puppy ethically.
I'm fairly sure google could be persuaded to do that, if they were approached by an org that represented enough rescues, or a reputable organisation.