DEAREST CITY FOR PUPPIES
CARDIFF has been named the most expensive city to buy a puppy in the UK – with the average dog costing £2,720.
The price of a dog varies between regions, with Middlesbrough being the cheapest at an average of £1,911 per puppy.
Pets4Homes, the UK’s largest online marketplace, has published the second if its twice yearly Industry Reports to reveal the most and least expensive places to buy a puppy.
According to their research, Cardiff, Liverpool and Southampton ranked the top three most expensive places to buy a dog in the UK, with 15 cities averaging more than £2,000 per puppy.
Swansea takes fifth place in the list. Lee Gibson, UK Managing Director at Pets4Homes, told TeamDogs: “Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have seen a rise in prices of pets across the UK, particularly for dogs.
“Now, in a post-pandemic landscape, prices are gradually beginning to fall as breeders help to bridge the supply and demand gap.
“However, there is still plenty of variation in the prices for pets across different regions.
“Where you live can make as much as £800 difference in the price of a dog, with averages varying from £1,911 in Middlesbrough to £2,720 in Cardiff.
“One possible reason for these price differences may be the disparity in the availability of dogs in each area.
“In terms of adverts per thousand of the population, Doncaster had almost 44 times as many dogs available when compared to London, which may contribute to dogs being an average of £162 more expensive in London than Doncaster.
“While prices are steadily decreasing, the data suggests that we are leaving behind the large price fluctuations that come with lockdown and settling into a new, post-lockdown equilibrium.
“Despite regional variations in the price of pets, we can hope to see prices become more predictable over the next few months.”
The Pets4Homes report reads: “More people than ever have turned to pets for much needed companionship during the pandemic, creating an increased demand for pets.
“Coupled with the initial limited availability of pets, this created an unprecedented increase in prices.”
According to statistics, the average dog price before the pandemic was £876, during March 2021 £2,237, and in June 2021 £1,873.
“We saw a general increase of dog prices in every single city in the United Kingdom last year,” Pets4Home reports.
While prices are still far above the same period last year, they have started to decrease as the trends have been reversed.