A puppy farm is hard to define, since it could be any size, any location and any number of dogs involved – it doesn’t have to be on an actual farm.  A puppy farm can also have a license and sell puppies that are registered with the Kennel Club and come with ‘pedigree’ certificates.  The best way to describe a puppy farm is to say that it is a place where puppies are bred, purely as a way to make money, with little or no regard for the welfare of the dogs involved.

Since responsible breeding is actually an expensive business, puppy farmers will cut as many costs as possible so that they can make the maximum profit – they don’t care about the mother or puppies suffering or if a few puppies die in the process.  Cost cutting includes; breeding from bitches too often and from too young an age, cramming dogs into unsuitable kennelling and feeding only enough for them to survive and breed, not giving proper vet care or vaccinations and sending pups off for sale when they are too young to leave their mothers.

If you buy from one of these places, you could easily end up with a puppy with physical defects, severe parasite infections, hereditary diseases and/or behaviour problems.  In the worse cases puppies can die within days from serious illnesses such as parvovirus, distemper or gastroenteritis, leaving you with nothing but an expensive vet’s bill.

How can you tell if a puppy is from a puppy farm?

It’ll be pretty obvious from the conditions if you walk into a puppy "farm" itself, but puppy farmers usually sell to dealers, who will sell the pups on, either through newspaper/website adverts or to pet shops - so you can’t always know if a puppy sold in either of these ways came from a puppy farm or not.  So to be sure, don’t buy from a pet shop, or from anyone advertising several breeds of dog.

Remember:

·         Puppy farms can be unlicensed or licensed and the puppies can be Kennel Club registered, so it is up to you to make checks on the breeding methods and conditions used.

·         If you want a pedigree puppy, ask for details of recommended breeders from the official breed club – contact the Kennel Club for details of the Accredited Breeder Scheme.

·         Always insist on seeing the puppies with their mother.  If a ‘breeder’ offers to meet you with the puppy, perhaps in a car park or motorway service station, steer well clear, as this is a practice commonly used by dealers.

·         If you’re not happy about the living conditions, or the state of the animals, do not buy!  If you believe that the dogs are suffering physically because of cruelty or neglect, contact the RSPCA and let your local council know. 

·         Don’t buy a puppy because you feel sorry for it or to ‘save it’ – you’ll only be making room for more puppies to be bred.

·         If it’s too easy to buy a puppy, be very cautious.  A good breeder often has a waiting list and will ask you many questions to make sure that you’ll be a good owner for one of their puppies.

So what can you do to help stop these puppy farmers? 

The most effective thing is simple – don’t buy a puppy from a puppy farm.  Hit them where it hurts – in their pockets!

Buying a puppy from a puppy farm or pet shop is only slightly cheaper than buying from a responsible breeder - in fact, it will probably work out more expensive when potential vet’s bills and behaviour/training fees are taken into consideration.  Moreover, of course, you can’t put a price on all that suffering…