Do you want a designer dog? This is the reality

[CapnHaddock]

A company called DoodlePets has had to take down their entire social media presence because they were found dumping dead puppies

www.kentonline.co.uk/whitstable/news/distressed-driver-finds-dead-puppies-in-lane-159095/

They fell off the back of a trailer apparently. This is what you're supporting when you buy your cockerpoos and puggles for stupid money. You're enabling fuckwits like this to force dogs to breed with the sole consideration of how much cash they can make.

You are not a dog lover if you buy a dog from gumtree or facebook or any other social media platform. There are great posts on here which explain how to go about finding a new puppy. Please consult those before parting with any cash.

Thank you from dogs

So these poor pups happen to be poodle crosses? Sad though this is, they could have been any "breed," to be honest.

No it isnt! This is disgusting, but has everything to do with unscrupulous dog breeding practices in all areas of breed type, not just deliberate crossbreeds.

Remember when buying ANY pet/puppy, research, research, research folks.

Separately these guys should have gotten life, not a pathetic fine. Horrific.

No they really couldn't FitBit. KC registered breeders are more regulated.

DON'T BUY PETS FROM FACEBOOK OR GUMTREE

Bump. Please consider a rescue too - you can get rescue pups (if only a puppy will do).

Also this needs said again -

[this] has everything to do with unscrupulous dog breeding practices in all areas of breed type, not just deliberate crossbreeds.

I have 2 designer dogs - neither from puppy farms.

Stop bashing poodle crosses. It's bad breeders that need sorting.

Few good breeders breed crosses
KC doesn't much regulate pedigree breeders either though.

Gratuitous puppy pick in support of Sallylockharts well made point about rescues and pups (we weren't looking for a pup specifically but well who could turn down that little face?)

I think most people DO know they are buying from a backyard breeder but choose to ignore it in favour of picking a dog they like the look of that is available at a time convenient to them. I did do the research originally when I had specific breed in mind but my head was ready to explode trying figure it all out and avoid a dodgy breeder so decided to go down the rescue root.

I admire those who actually manage to put in the considerable time and effort to find a genuine breeder.

Pic not pick
route not root

Good breeders don’t cross breeds. That’s just the way it is. An amazing breeder concentrates on ‘their’ breed, and they know the lineage, the health etc of all the dogs related to their pups. You cannot know all that if you’re crossing breeds all over the shop.

here we go...

Yes “here we go”.

If my point stops one person from buying a dog from a backyard breeder, and researches and chooses a good one then I’m not sorry in slightest for raising the issue.

Me neither.
Too many buy an unsuitable breed of type of dog over the Internet from a stranger. No research. They want what they want when they want it. Welfare be damned.
I would rather not have a dog than give puppy farmers money. And I love my dog. But I waited over two years for her.

We are getting a rescue puppy in the next few weeks. It absolutely can be done.

I know KC reg isn't a guarantee but it does st least guard against horrendous multiple pregnancies

I didn't want to read the article because there were pictures-why did they kill the puppies?

People that buy designer dogs are not going to be swayed no matter how horrific your stories are, sadly.

Because, you know, 'their' 'breeder' is not like that

Spare you’re so right and that is the problem!

I wish there was some way of regulating it, the horror stories aren’t enough to dissuade people and that in itself is awful.

I do agree with the premise of what you're saying, but there's a part of me that suspects some of the demand for puppy farms and BYBs is driven by the fact that well intentioned rescues refuse to rehome to some people who can offer good homes for relatively minor reasons - like the person who posted here a few days ago because they couldn't get written landlord consent.

written landlord consent.
Surely thats not minor? Who's going to look after the dog if they get kicked out of their home?

I do agree that rescues can be heavy handed - we lost a much wanted dog as our ferry to collect him was delayed by 4 days due to bad weather .

Yes some rescue groups are completely unreasonable.
That being said, we rescued from a breed rescue and our dogs are fab! Smooth collies, who knew? I didn't. I'd take another 4 of them!

The case was about dumping, nothing to do with animal welfare. The man prosecuted was taking sacks of dead puppies to the dump when they 'fell off the back of his trailer'. He didn't seem to really care about why the pups had died "sometimes things can go wrong and we don’t know why" is all he said in court and it's not clear whether the puppies died before or after birth.

To me this is the point, to a puppy farmer their dogs are not pets, they are just a way to make money (or in this case rubbish to be thrown away as cheaply as possible). Cross breeds have the price point of a pedigree (or more) but few if any controls. For example no limitations on the amount of litters a bitch can whelp which means that they will be bred again and again, affecting the health of the dog and her offspring. As puppy farmers rarely accept their dogs back if there are problems they have no interest in their long term health or well being. It's all short term gain, and given that these puppies apparently had a market value of two and a half thousand dollars, significant gain at that.

However well meaning these sorts of threads are I don't think they do anything to stop anyone buying cross breeds.

People want cross breeds and I think it would be better to accept that rather than jump up and down and say it must only be pedigree or rescue (and who is to say the rescue pups aren't from a puppy farm anyway).

Putting clear regulations in place and policing those regulations for ALL breeders, whether it is cross, pedigree, commercial or family breeder would be far more effective than saying people who buy cross breeds are bad.

who is to say the rescue pups aren't from a puppy farm - they have usually been rescued from a puppy farm

I dont believe that people who buy cross breeds are bad. I do believe that anyone who contributes to the existence of puppy farms (can we think of a less cute name for them?!) is very ignorant and/or a bad person.

I think a major reason backyard breeders and Facebook sellers are so popular is that rescues can be really, really stringent with regards to who they'll adopt to.

We're getting our dog in May and we looked at rescues for months - the majority wouldn't rehome to us because we have cats already. Lots won't even look at families with small children, or you need breed-specific experience, or to be at home all day - and for a huge majority of people, it's impossible to meet every single requirement.

I'm not saying rescues are wrong to be strict - of course they need the animals welfare in mind but it's no wonder people look elsewhere when they're turned down for what are pretty minor reasons. Especially when they see everyone else with dogs/cats living peacefully, and families with young children and several dogs who never have any issues.

It's a complex problem.