Say NO to purchasing designer dogs online and from pet shops
We as a rescue are fighting every single day to target and close places such as puppy mills and illegal, irresponsible breeders. Often it is not easy in Hungary, due to the law which treats dogs as belongings not as living creatures with feelings.
Do you know what the red box on the front of each cage is for? This red box can be filled with enough food to last seven days. A water dripper is also made available for the same length of time. One whole week. That means the puppy mill owner can stock those plastic boxes, walk away, and won’t have to return daily. Many owners even turn the lights off in those stinking, filthy barns so they can save on electricity!
That’s not much of a life, is it? Don’t buy puppies online, and don’t buy from a pet store, because you are supporting puppy mills in operation. If a registered breeder has puppies for sale they will have their own accredited website where you can see their business details, and you will be able to view testimonials.
So now you’ve seen what happens in Hungary, but it’s also in the UK. This is not just a ‘foreign’ problem, it is happening here too. As I was writing this, an article came to my attention that in Brighton, East Sussex suspicious dog breeders were being investigated (I will link the piece below).
Back to Hungary, which is where all of our dogs come from. There are in fact vets who are rich from this this kind of puppy trade! They rely on the custom from the puppy farms and deals are made… So what is the government chamber doing? Surely not what a lawyer would do in their place, because the trades are still happening!
We have dogs come to our rescue that have been the result of puppy farm breeding, and it is heart breaking. They have multiple health and behavioural issues which we then raise money to fix with our own veterinary practices (who we value and trust). Sometimes we can rehabilitate them, and they survive to find new families, sometimes we can’t. It is a long and painful journey.
This is why we must raise awareness of these illegal, inhumane practices. Did you know that currently there has been an increase in designer puppies being shipped in via Dover from abroad? The BBC even made a Panorama documentary about it in 2016, and again they reported an issue with Welsh dog traders in 2019… But this is just scratching the surface.
Please tell at least one person per day about puppy mills. Tell them that adoption from an existing rescue shelter or joining a rescue group is the best option. The more people stop purchasing puppies and young dogs online, the sooner the mill owners will realise there is no profit to be made, and the remaining offenders will be caught!
ADOPT, DON’T SHOP
Link to the local Brighton investigation can be found here.
Link to the BBC Panorama 2016 documentary can be found here.
Link to Wesh puppy mill investigations, 2019 can be found here.