The Bad News:
A recent article in the Scottish Sunday Post revealed that reports of illegal dog breeders have trebled in one year.
Sellers use tactics such as renting Airbnb properties to fool people into thinking the dogs come from a good home. Many of the dogs are actually imported cheap from Southern Ireland and resold for a lot of money.
One in three puppies purchased online will get sick or die within the first year, and one in four will die before their fifth birthday.
A puppy dealer who was found guilty of selling animals without a licence told investigators she would travel by ferry to Ireland once a month to collect a litter of puppies from a contact, before selling them online.
Those traffickers use online classified websites and those websites are complicit, whether they are aware of it or not!
The Scottish Government estimated the online puppy trade at £13 million a year.
Full details here:
On Tuesday, two sick dogs were found abandoned in a cage by the side of the road in Lanarkshire, if anyone knows anything, please contact the Scottish SPCA.
https://stv.tv/news/west-central/1434508-neglected-dogs-discovered-dumped-in-cage-next-to-road/
The Good News:
The Scottish government is tackling the issue of designer dog, cat and rabbit breeding, which produces animals with unnatural physical features at the detriment of their welfare. This is due to be implemented at the end of the year.
Other changes include a limit of three litters allowed without a licence (as opposed to 5 currently). This will apply to dogs, cats and rabbits.
It is an improvement but it is still not enough and only scratches the surface of the problem.
The Dogs Trust has expressed concerns over the number of online pet adverts posted after Christmas.
4000 dogs were posted for sale on Gumtree in one week alone. Between 2007 and 2016, the number of dogs listed on Gumtree increased by 785%. This really shows it’s out of control.
BaBBA is only a small campaign group with very limited resources, and this issue really needs the support of large charities as well as more public awareness. Anyone who wants a pet should visit a rehoming centre as a first port of call. We can all make a difference. Buying online only fuels this unethical business and lines the pockets of unscrupulous breeders.
I still haven’t received a response from Gumtree or Friday-Ad although the petition was delivered before Christmas. I have sent a chasing email and tweet.
You can RT here:
https://twitter.com/BaBBACampaign/status/1084190449315823617
Thank you again for supporting this cause.
Isabelle Rineau
BaBBA Campaign (Ban all Baby Bunny Ads)
@babbacampaign
https://www.facebook.com/BabbaCampaign