HELP STAMP OUT PUPPY FARMING HORROR!
Every year thousands of dogs are bred in squalid conditions on puppy farms, leaving them in pain, infected and physically and mentally scarred… and yet, incredibly, it’s not illegal
When Vanessa Linnell first started looking after dogs rescued from puppy farms four years ago, she was appalled at the state they were in when they arrived at her animal rescue shelter.
And Vanessa’s horror has intensified as she’s seen the effects of the terrible treatment the dogs clearly endured before they were saved.
Shockingly, one in three puppies bought in the UK are bred on dog farms, and one million puppies are bred in them every year.
Tragically, because of the grim conditions the dogs are often kept in, one in five puppy farm dogs will die before they are six months old.
Vanessa, 61, who runs the St Giles Animal Rescue Centre near Taunton, says: “The dogs’ coats are often matted and covered in faeces. They’re terrified of people as they often haven’t had interaction with humans at all except being prodded with a ‘handling pole.’ They’ve been living in tiny pens in the darkness and are riddled with disease and ear infections. It’s absolutely devastating.
“We took in 250 dogs last year, with around 80 of them coming from puppy farms.”
Some of the conditions are beyond belief. Puppies are locked in dark, filthy cages, whimpering as they’ve been prematurely separated from their mothers. They’re held in disease-ridden sheds before being sold for up to £3,000.
It can cost up to £5,000 to make a dog healthy again physically – though normally around £300 – but emotionally it can be harder.
Astonishingly, though, puppy farming in the UK is not illegal, depite MPS calling for this to change. TV vet Marc Abraham, 42, launched Pupaid in 2010 – a campaign to stop the cruel practice.
He tells Closer: “There are hundreds of licensed puppy farms in the UK and there’s no limit to the number of dogs each farm can have. There are also illegal puppy farms, but you’d be hard pressed to spot a difference in the inhumane conditions these dogs and puppies are kept in. Mums are used as breeding machines until they are infertile and then many are often killed.
“I can’t understand why this form of dog breeding (away from their mothers by pet shops) is still legal, and we are doing everything we can to stop it. People who want a dog should adopt or search for a breeder through the Kennel Club’s Assured Breeder Scheme.”
❛THE DOGS’ COATS ARE OFTEN MATTED AND COVERED WITH FAECES❜