Dogs Trust hits out at ‘puppy superstores’
11 Dec 2008 08:01
AS DOGS Trust celebrates the 30th anniversary of its slogan ‘A dog is for life, not just for Christmas’ it is urging people considering buying a dog to think first before going to a ‘puppy superstore’.
The charity believes that thanks to the slogan’s success fewer people seem to be buying dogs as Christmas gifts.
Festive surprises
But it says research has revealed that each year 131,400 puppies year still end up as a festive surprise to a possibly unwilling recipient.
More than 96,000 dogs were abandoned and left to stray in the UK last year, and Dogs Trust’s biggest concern is that those from superstores are being sold to owners who may not always be responsible and could abandon their dog once challenges arise.
The charity’s Leeds centre has already taken in five puppies from what it described as a superstore.
A Dogs Trust investigation team posed as unsuitable prospective dog owners none of whom, the charity said, would be allowed to adopt a puppy from the charity.
“The superstore had no issue with selling their dogs to the team without any guidance or questions,” the spokesman said.
“Unsuitable puppies are being bought at too young an age by people with no gardens who are out at work all day.
“Without the right amount of human contact and training when young, a dog can become destructive, depressed and sometimes aggressive.
“At our rehoming centres, no dog is allowed to leave with a new owner without a thorough home-check and lifestyle interview.
“Good breeders will also ensure their puppies are only sold to appropriate responsible owners.”
The charity’s veterinary director, Chris Laurence, said: “I would expect many of the dogs bought from these stores to have behavioural issues, poor immune systems and to suffer from stress, all due to the fact that they have been taken away from their mother far too early into an extremely unnatural environment.
“We fear that our rehoming centres will feel a huge knock-on effect.”