December 2024
The Dark side of Dog Breeding
For those of you who are following our Facebook posts, we have been sharing poor breeding practices found on the Meta platforms and licensed & unlicensed puppy farms. Around 30,000 puppies are produced on puppy farms in Ireland alone, mostly for export to the UK, to be sold online or in ‘reputable’ Kennels or Dog Academies for huge profits. Large-scale commercial breeding facilities have hundreds of breeding bitches living miserable lives, producing thousands of puppies each year then transported hundreds of miles to the UK.
What is the Law on Puppy Farms in Ireland?
Legislation to control puppy farms became active in 2012 but there is still a mass production of puppies exported to the UK and the rest of Europe – both legal and illegal. Clearly, this needs addressing to protect animal welfare. News reports of ‘licensed’ puppy farms closing down are far too common. Closed down due to the terrible conditions the dogs are kept in - unsanitary, cramped and freezing with lack of human contact. Ireland’s largest dog welfare charity – Dogs Trust Ireland are calling for tougher legislation on puppy farms. One of the recommendations are that every local authority make their register of Dog breeding Establishments available online and accessible to the public. The current staff ratio of one staff member to 25 breeding female dogs (not to mention the puppies) is unacceptable and that needs revising. The Trust recognises that it is not possible for one person to give all of these dogs everything they need such as socialisation, habituation and most of all the love and attention they need and crave.
What else can be done?
It is well documented that there is a shortage of official inspectors – all local authorities need to employ more highly trained inspectors
Currently all visits have to be prearranged – random unannounced inspections are not allowed. This needs to change to include more unexpected visits.
The Importance of Socialisation
Larger establishments just do not have the resources (or choose not to) to raise a very young puppy that is well socialised – a critical stage in their development. If they are not socialised, they grow up to be nervous, frightened and sometimes even aggressive.
How are the Puppies and Dogs Looked After?
Many people are unaware of the realities on these large scale puppy farms and probably do not even consider the conditions they are kept in – far from acceptable by the time they are advertised.
They suffer in silence spending most of their lives in cages or pens. They feed from special feeders with cheap dry dog food poured into them, designed to last for several days. The pups are soon ripped from their mums ready to be sold on and the cycle starts again. Despite a huge campaign to close these puppy farms down, we ask repeatedly – why are licenses still handed out and why do councils continue to allow importation? Many people would be shocked to know where their puppy came from so it is vitally important to do your research first when thinking of buying a puppy.
With best wishes from the Justice for Reggie Team
https://animallaw.ie/types-of-crime/dog-breeding-and-puppy-farming/
https://youtu.be/VHidnVMBwU?si=3wj036ZiCIS_wwU0 (Disturbing scenes in this documentary)
https://www.small-breed-dogs.com/what-is-a-puppy-mill.html