The Kennel Club has declared this week Puppy Awareness Week and has released research to back its campaign for greater care over choosing and buying a puppy. Their research suggests that one in four dog owners may have bought their pet from “cruel” puppy farms, where animals are bred from overused mothers with little concern for the wellbeing of the adults or puppies. This could lead to future health and behavioural problems in the puppies.
Their survey of more than 400 dog owners showed that 29 per cent bought their puppy from the internet, a pet shop or through a newspaper advertisement – all outlets which the Kennel Club says are used by puppy farms. Three in five admitted they had not seen the puppy with its mother before buying, and more than half did not see it in the place it had been bred and reared before they took it home.
Caroline Kisko, the Kennel Club secretary, said: “Puppy farming is a cruel trade that treats dogs as commodities rather than living creatures.”
The organisation said that it was “absolutely vital” that people go to one of the breeders in its assured breeders scheme or to a rescue centre to get a dog.

The Kennel Club has declared this week Puppy Awareness Week and has released research to back its campaign for greater care over choosing and buying a puppy. Their research suggests that one in four dog owners may have bought their pet from “cruel” puppy farms, where animals are bred from overused mothers with little concern for the wellbeing of the adults or puppies. This could lead to future health and behavioural problems in the puppies.
Their survey of more than 400 dog owners showed that 29 per cent bought their puppy from the internet, a pet shop or through a newspaper advertisement – all outlets which the Kennel Club says are used by puppy farms. Three in five admitted they had not seen the puppy with its mother before buying, and more than half did not see it in the place it had been bred and reared before they took it home.
Caroline Kisko, the Kennel Club secretary, said: “Puppy farming is a cruel trade that treats dogs as commodities rather than living creatures.”
The organisation said that it was “absolutely vital” that people go to one of the breeders in its assured breeders scheme or to a rescue centre to get a dog.