David Crausby MP has given his backing to a campaign by animal protection charity the RSPCA to introduce tougher regulations for puppy breeding and trafficking.
It is estimated that the national demand for puppies is anything from 700,000 to 1.9 million animals each year. Around 70,000 puppies are born to licensed British breeders, with the remainder imported, rescued or from unlicensed breeders.
With the huge rise in both internet purchases and puppy imports there are concerns that people are making huge profits for sales while puppies are being poorly treated. Many will have been bred and reared in poor environments and separated from their mothers too early, leaving them at risk of significant, long‐term behavioural and medical problems.
The growing problems with the trade also pass on huge emotional and financial costs to the puppy’s new owner. Puppies may be sick at the point of sale leading to high veterinary bills for the owner and poor welfare for the puppy and in some cases may lead to euthanasia. One investigation found around 20% of puppies bought on the internet will die within six months.
Bolton North East MP David Crausby said: “It’s clear that as a society we love dogs and that’s why so many people want to own one, but it can’t be right for so many to be made to suffer as dodgy breeders exploit this for profit. The regulations for puppy breeding need to be updated to reflect the situation today and I am happy to support the RSPCA’s campaign.”
The campaign asks the Government to implement four changes:
•Anyone selling a puppy must have a licence with welfare conditions attached
•Strong penalties & fines for anyone caught selling a puppy without a licence.
•A national database of puppy sellers to aid enforcement and give consumers greater confidence in puppies they are buying
•All internet and offline advertisers (like Pets4Homes, PreLoved, Friday Ad) must display the licence number of the seller in order to list an advert. This has recently been adopted in France.
(Photo credits- animalnepal.wordpress.com, rspca.org.uk)