Puppy farms — BEWARE!
A puppy farm is an organisation that sells a high volume of puppies, placing the importance of profit over the welfare of the pups and their mothers. While the puppies often appear perfectly healthy on the surface, they are often bred from unhealthy, non-health tested parents, and may not have received the appropriate health care or socialisation. The pups are often from mothers who produce over the recommended number of litters in their lifetimes, they are often separated from their mothers too early, and raised in poor conditions before moving to the selling location. Puppy farmers are very good at disguising what they do, so here’s how to spot one:
● They let you take a puppy home on the day you meet him, with little or no questions asked.
● Responsible breeders will always agree to let you return the puppy if things don’t work out; puppy farms are unlikely to.
● They offer a delivery service.
● They have a selection of different breeds to choose from.
● They aren’t able to provide, or offer false health test certificates for the parents.
● The mother of the dog isn’t anywhere in sight — although some will use dogs who look like mothers to pose with the pups.
● The person you are dealing with has a limited or superficial knowledge of the breed.
● The buying process is more like buying a pair of shoes — if you don’t like one breed, they will encourage you to look at others.
● Puppies haven’t been raised in a home environment — they can be seen in a cage or crate, or are often in clean, sawdust-covered pens.
TOP TIP!
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