The terrible truth behind puppy trade
Cruel conditions of farms exposed
DOG dealers in Scotland are selling farmed puppies to owners who have no idea they were bred in cruel conditions, a BBC report has revealed.
The documentary claims people are being tricked into spending hundreds of pounds on dogs that have been so poorly treated they are often suffering from severe health problems.
Dealers have been caught on camera buying smuggled animals from suppliers from puppy farms in Northern Ireland.
One of the farms secretly filmed was described by a leading expert in veterinary medicine as a ‘jail’ for dogs.
Once in this country, the puppies are advertised online and described as having been born in a family home, it has been alleged.
The BBC report claims dealers are even importing ‘show bitches’, a mother dog which looks like the puppy for sale to give the impression it has been born in a loving home. In reality, the truth is much more sinister.
BBC Scotland Investigates filmed dog dealer Dawn Smyth from Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, buying puppies from a Northern Irish supplier.
Within hours they claim Smyth had advertised them for sale online as pets bred in her family home.
Footage shows an undercover reporter being invited into Smyth’s home as a prospective buyer to look at a puggle for sale – a popular crossbreed between a beagle and a pug. Asked if
‘The dogs are seriously deprived’
she had been breeding them for a long time, Smyth replies: ‘They are her first litter.’ She adds: ‘They are just used to the kids running about.’
Later, another reporter secretly filming at the home asks to see the mother before buying a puppy.
Smyth says: ‘My daughter took the mum to the caravan. She’s away because the pups were feeding on her.’
The reporter asks: ‘If I wanted to come and see the mum with them, could I possibly do that or not?’ Smyth replies: ‘If they are still here.’ The documentary alleges dealers are now going to extreme lengths to fool people into buying dogs born on puppy farms. Some are using show bitches to trick buyers.
On one occasion Smyth and her husband Noel are seen passing an adult basset back to their supplier from Northern Ireland. The previous week she had been advertising bassett pups and all had been sold.
The supplier then passes puppies to Smyth and an adult bichon. Within an hour she has advertised bichon pups for sale and claims the mum is their family pet.
Smyth and her husband have not yet responded to requests for comment.
More than a third of all puppies bought in Britain now come from both licensed and unlicensed puppy farms.
The market is being driven by the demand for fashionable breeds. One breeding dog can produce £5,000 worth of pups a year, and in some cases people will pay thousands of pounds for a puppy.
Veterinary experts were appalled by what they saw. Watching footage from one farm, Dr John Bradshaw, a canine behaviour expert from the University of Bristol, said: ‘If they are in there 24/7 then those dogs are seriously deprived. They are basically in jail.’
Looking at footage of the dogs trapped inside boxes on a farm, Mike Radford, an animal welfare legislation expert from Aberdeen University, said: ‘I am appalled, as any responsible dog owner would be, I think.’
It is not just the animals that are affected. Those who buy the puppies often have to deal with their numerous health issues.
Marc Abraham, vet and animal welfare campaigner, said: ‘We see puppies coming in underage and underweight. We see them suffering from infectious diseases and of course you also have behavioural problems.
‘So this tiny ball of cute fluff is actually a ticking time-bomb of disease, pain and suffering.’
The BBC secretly filmed a Northern Irish puppy farm belonging to Eric Hale, one of the biggest licensed dog breeders in the country, with 120 breeding bitches.
His beagles are Kennel Club registered and have even qualified for Crufts – but he is also one of Britain’s most prolific dog dealers. He supplies puppies all over the UK and regularly to a dealer on the outskirts of Edinburgh.
Footage filmed using night vision cameras showed huge barns full of dogs. The BBC claimed in some of the runs there was little or no bedding.
Reporters watched Hale’s farm over several days and claim they saw no sign of the dogs being routinely taken out of the barns.
In a statement, Hale told the BBC his kennels met ‘all the requirements for a breeding establishment’.
He said his dogs were ‘well socialised’ and there was plenty of bedding of ‘various types’.