A post by an animal lover in a Facebook animal welfare group states in response to the photo above: "Are these guys Sick, doesn't the breeder know the last amount of time the Pups need to be with their parents is 45 days? Can something be done about this?"

Quikr is India’s largest online and mobile classifieds portal based in Mumbai, India.

Quikr is currently present in 900 cities across India and provides the local community with a platform to help them buy, sell, rent and find something across many categories including 'pets' - which means that anyone, anywhere in India can upload a photo or photos of an animal/animals and set down a price for them, listing their specifications, breeding etc, with little or no proof to the reality of that claim. 

The horror of puppy mills and puppy factories run by unscrupulous backyard breeders are increasing day by day in India, where breeding dogs are kept in cages for their entire lives and forced to live on scraps, denied medical treatment and bred repetitively till the animal dies or collapses from infections and malnutrition and is dumped to die outside a local shelter. Scores of animal activists, NGO's like SPCA (Society for Prevention against Cruelty to Animals), PFA (People for Animals), Red Paws Rescue (Delhi) have been crying foul to help curb this menace since the trend started and gained impetus through such social media classified which allows fairly incognito buying/selling of pups/kittens, cats and dogs. No one needs a breeder accreditation, license, permit to trade or sell animals on Quikr and nor does Quikr take any responsibility of the 'items' being sold or its authenticity. 

 

This kind of unregulated sale of pets is fueling the crisis of abandoned pedigrees in every major city with booming consumer rate and since 'pets' are being held up by Quikr as a product to 'buy/sell', the abuse, neglect and irregularities involved in such an easy 'no strings attached' commercial process just gains momentum.

The Kennel Club of India has laid down certain rules which are thrown to the wind by such social media breeders/sellers (http://www.kennelclubofindia.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=238:inform-dog-lovers&catid=18:news&Itemid=33) They advise against the buying of pups unless they can be visited, have proper license and accredition for selling pups.

The Animal Welfare Board of India has also drafted a dog breed rules formulated by virtue of the power conferred by Section 38 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960  (http://www.awbi.org/awbi-pdf/draftdogbreedrules.pdf) which states that anyone who wishes to breed and sell pups for commercial gain should obtain their license from AWBI. 

 

Now comes the dillema that since Quikr cannot monitor and does not regulate the authenticity or scrupulousness of such advertisements, the company should seriously consider the repurcussion of providing such an option to breeders/sellers, which are are follows:

 

1) Most of the pet owners, do not know or know little of the process involved in proper pet care and lack the proper knowledge of breed and breed health and thus can be easily cheated and duped by such sellers.

2) Since no one can inspect their breeding facility, and with just a single contact phone number given, the breeder can easily conceal their identity and carry on with his animal hoarding, abusive breeding practices which amount to cruelty. Quikr is thus, in the process encouraging and sustaining this abusive and inhuman business.

3) This non-regulated buying and selling of pets, commercialized by Quickr and other such platforms is derailing the work of Animal welfare NGO's and activist networks and adds to the pressure of  trying to rehome abandoned pups who fell ill just after buying from shady breeders online. (Such pups are often abandoned, because being perceived and 'bought' as a product, the guardian looses interest or doesn't want to spend money on a 'defective' item.) 

4) Over bred and dying dogs are regularly dumped at animal shelters at unearthly hours, by such breeders who care little for the animal they used for their commercial gains. In promoting 'pets' as an item for sale - Quikr is willingly becoming a participant to this endless circle of exploitation and animal cruelty. Such overbred dogs die excruciatingly painful deaths from uterine or vaginal tumors or ulcers and other terminal infections.

5) Over breeding and puppy mills regularly churn out handicapped, blind and deaf pups who are culled or euthanized since they are not fit for sale. An online selling platform like Quikr also encourages this endless cycle of intentional and wilful cruelty and culling based on commercial gains.

6) Online breeders often sell painfully young pups and kittens who are not even weaned from their mother's milk in a bid to make easy money. Such pups and the mother both undergo severe separation trauma and such a practice is thoroughly condemned by veterinarians and responsible breeders. Often such pups will die due to the trauma and stress of being separated from their mother, leading not only to a pathetic end but also to the heartbreak and anguish of the first time pet owner or guardian.

We request and urge, Mr. Pranay Chulet, CEO, Quickr India to follow the lead of Ebay and remove the sale of live animals and pets from the options available on Quiker. (http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/EBay-backs-off-pet-sales-Online-auction-site-2556228.php)

Finally, we would like to cite an article by ASPCA (American Society for Prevention against cruelty to animals) which clearly ties up the menace of puppy mills to the unregulated sale of pets over social media and classifieds - http://www.aspca.org/about-us/press-releases/aspca-applauds-federal-efforts-crack-down-puppy-mills.

Please take a responsible step towards safe guarding animal rights as well as preserving the sentiments of animal lovers, countless animal welfare activists and NGO's.

The interest of corporate platforms need not clash, but should work together hand in hand to make life better for everyone, including the 'pets' we all love to have in our lives.