As part of the ‘Paws 4 Thought – 36 Hours of Action For Puppy Farm Dogs’ event being held on 29th October – 30th October, puppy farm campaigner Sue Rouhan will be calling on dog lovers and campaigners everywhere to write to their Members of Parliament urging them to help write off puppy farming forever. The Dogs Need You - Write To Your MP Sue Rouhan’s campaign began with a petition to Ceredigion County Council entitled ‘Help me free breeding dogs from convicted illegal puppy farmer Richard Jones‘. This petition is now 33,976 strong and contains regular updates. We urge everyone to view and sign at the link below. https://www.change.org/p/ceredigion-council-help-me-free-breeding-dogs-from-convicted-illegal-puppy-farmer-richard-jones Let’s stand United Against Puppy Farming and with the help of our Members of Parliament, let’s write off puppy farming forever. For details of your MP, please visit: http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/mps/ A sample email is provided below, but we do encourage everyone to add their own words and experiences where possible. We have also included links at the bottom of this post should you wish to include them in your email, or any images contained within them. Dear (insert MP’s name) TIME TO WRITE-OFF PUPPY FARMING & 3rd-PARTY PUPPY DEALING! We have an epidemic of ‘puppy farms’ - high-volume, low-welfare dog breeding establishments - and 3rd-party dealing, that is, dealing puppies through pet shops and online. Unbelievably, this practice is legal. (Highlighted in the recent shocking Panorama documentary, ‘Britain’s Puppy Dealers Exposed’.) It's estimated that 40-50% of ALL puppies sold in the UK, have been bred in this way, with sales fuelled by frenetic, impulse-buying, of so-called ‘designer-dogs’, with price tags ranging from £400 to £2,000. Maximisation of profit is the goal, for breeders and dealers alike - with disastrous consequences for the health and welfare of the dogs. The breeding dogs are condemned to a life locked in agricultural buildings and sheds (often licenced), bred to exhaustion, until destroyed, with very few ever experiencing a ‘normal’ loved-pet’s life. The puppies are often physically and/or behaviourally sick and are driven around the country, perhaps changing hands several times, commonly carrying Parvovirus or zoonotic diseases, e.g. Campylobacter, Giardia. 3rd-party puppy dealers (carrying on a business of selling puppies a seller has not bred) are the distribution network for ‘farmed’, poorly-bred puppies. Reputable breeders simply will not sell their puppies through a pet shop, or puppy dealer. We urgently need to ban 3rd-party sales of puppies, thereby obliging the public to buy directly from the breeder. A 3rd-party puppy sales ban is an essential first step to tackling the issue of puppy farming, as well as imperative for the protection of puppies and consumers. It is the most cost-efficient solution to tackling issues of welfare and illegal trading – including the trafficking of puppies into the UK from Europe. I urge you to put pressure on Defra, to include a ban on the 3rd-party selling of puppies, in the proposed new licensing regulations and further, to ensure Defra provides local authorities with the resources and expertise they need, to enforce the regulations. Nobody wants to see the failings of the Welsh dog breeding regulations being repeated in England. Relevant agencies and parties want changes to existing animal welfare legislation, and the pending revisions to the Animal Establishment Licensing provide the ideal opportunity to introduce a 3rd-party puppy sales ban, as recommended by the EFRA Committee, at the end of 2016. This will reduce the administrative burden for local authorities and allow them to meet their objective, of high standards of animal welfare. Enforcement is already successful against illegal (unlicensed) traders and actioned by various agencies including local authorities, Trading Standards and the RSPCA. The puppy trade is wholly dependent upon advertising, to attract customers and is therefore visible to enforcement agencies. It cannot survive ‘underground’, detached from its customers. The RSPCA and Kennel Club fully support this ban - strongly recommended by the EFRA Committee, citing numerous reasons for their recommendation. Dogs and puppies have been suffering unimaginable cruelty, in licensed and unlicensed dog breeding establishments. Defra and devolved governments MUST protect our dogs. Thank you in anticipation of your support. If you require further information please contact C.A.R.I.A.D. at http://www.cariadcampaign.co.uk. Yours sincerely, SUPPORTING INFORMATION https://www.change.org/p/ceredigion-council-help-me-free-breeding-dogs-from-convicted-illegal-puppy-farmer-richard-jones https://cariadcampaign.blog/2017/09/30/stoptober-stop-failing-the-dogs-stop-failing-the-public/ https://cariadcampaign.blog/2017/04/16/proof-a-third-party-banillegal-activity-is-highly-enforceable/ https://cariadcampaign.blog/2017/02/01/failed-by-richard-jones-and-a-system-licensed-to-kill/ https://cariadcampaign.blog/2017/02/03/kevin-knox-isnt-entirely-to-blame-for-selling-sick-puppies/ http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/dogs-suffering-welsh-puppy-farms-12312362 http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/puppy-farms-operating-behind-firmly-7214135 https://cariadcampaign.blog/2017/09/25/a-message-from-c-a-r-i-a-d-to-those-brave-enough-to-speak-out/ https://cariadcampaign.blog/leafletsandposters/