I know that usually we blog about new products, cute visitors to our pet shop or pet nutrition… but we genuinely care about the welfare of our own and our customers animals, so would like to take this opportunity to let people know some shocking facts about puppy farms right here in Ireland.

You may be disgusted to hear that Irish puppy farms currently export about 30,000 dogs to the UK. These shocking figures mean that Ireland has been dubbed the “puppy farm capital of Europe”. Ex puppy farm dogs can have a whole range of issues ranging from health complications due to poor breeding and unsanitary conditions to behavioral problems due to lack of socialisation. The breeding dams (the mothers) often spend their whole lives in small pens churning out litter after litter with little or no exercise, natural light or even fresh air.

We have met some ex farm “breeding machines” in our store who have been rescued by families and they are lovely, gentle creatures enjoying every minute of their new surroundings – but sadly, many rescued from farms are too traumatised and need to be put out of their misery.

Have a look at this recent Ear to the Ground episode on RTE where some farmers did a quick tidy up in an effort to friendly up and justify their sick business.

There is one reason these farmers are in business – TO MAKE MONEY. Dogs are not cattle and farming them like cattle is unethical and cruel. Oh and saying a dog will not mind not getting out of its pen to exercise because its “used to it” is just plain stupid. Children can get “used to” being beaten but that doesn’t make it acceptable.

A lot of the time, people buy puppy farmed dogs without realising. Some of the oldest tricks in the book are to offer to meet you halfway at the side of the road somewhere, or to move the litter in question in to a separate viewing room so everything appears to be ok. Also unfortunately the sight of a sickly or frightened looking puppy can often tug at the heart strings and people hand over the cash to “rescue” the puppy from the situation. This is NOT you rescuing the puppy, it is simply supporting greedy farmers who are relying on soft hearted people to fork out for a sick puppy… be strong – WALK AWAY.  I’m sorry to say I’ve lost count of the number of puppies we’ve met in our store who have become seriously ill or died within weeks of them being purchased. This is also the case for some of the puppies featured in this RSPCA expose:

This process is costly, traumatic (especially for families with children) and can be easily avoided. I will blog soon with tips how to go about choosing a puppy, but for now I need to go home and cuddle my precious dogs.

The Dog Breeding Establistments Bill is currently being debated in the Dail. Well done to ANVIL, the ISPCA, and all involved for getting this far.