Warning over puppy farms cashing in on Black Friday

DISCOUNTED dogs are being marketed to Black Friday shoppers, a pet charity has found, as it warned purchases could be funding “horrific” puppy farms.

The People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) issued a warning about buying dogs online as it found puppies being sold in the Black Friday sales.

In the US, Black Friday traditionally falls on the Friday after Thanksgiving, but this year retailers in Britain began their sales up to a week ago.

British shoppers are estimated to spend £5.6billion in the lead up to Cyber Monday, another American retail import which falls next week, according to research by the personal finance comparison website finder.com.

But the PDSA and the RSPCA have both warned that pets being sold in online sales could have been “born and reared in horrific conditions”.

One advert on gumtree.com reads: “Adorable French Bulldogs Black Friday Sale”. The description of the sale adds that five “Blue Girls” had been reduced from £2,000 to £1,200 and one “Black Boy” was reduced from £1,200 to £1,000.

Penny Morgan, a vet for the PDSA, said: “With more and more pets being advertised for sale online, it’s really important to avoid buying from a puppy farm, or a poor environment. You should always see them at their home, with their mother, before buying.”

Lisa Hens, an RSPCA dog welfare expert, said: “It’s extremely worrying to see that some sellers are offering Black Friday deals to cash in on living, sentient beings and encourage impulse buying. These could be puppies born and reared in horrific conditions without access to appropriate care who may quickly fall ill and develop long-term behaviour problems.”

Meanwhile, parents have been warned that they should adjust the controls on voice-activated tech ahead of the sales to stop children going on spending sprees using devices such as Amazon Echo and Google Home.

Internet Matters, a not-for-profit organisation, advised adults to set parental controls and deactivate speakers when they were not using the device so children could not use them.