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Are you the one in four?

...the one in four that bought their dog from a puppy farm? The KC (Kennel Club) has commissioned a survey which also reveals that three out of five people don't get to see the mum of their pup. Click here to read the release.

It really is shocking. As are the others stats we have at our fingertips. One unwanted dog put to sleep every hour. A record breaking 10.5 millions dogs in the UK. More dogs than ever for sale in pet shops or over the Internet in unregulated sites. Larger and larger puppy farms being planned and licensed. Battersea bursting with Staffie and Staffie crosses yet people still breeding them in huge numbers.

I was invited to take part in BBC Radio Leeds programme about this subject. I include a link to BBC iplayer below. Do listen all the way to the end of the item. Right at the end Our Dogs latest allegedly 'controversial' columnist Elaine Everest, Old English Sheepdog breeder from Kent, rings up BBC Leeds and tries to blame the whole issue of puppy farms and over production on the 2008 ground-breaking documentary Pedigree Dogs Exposed (while at the same time trying unsuccessfully to plug her latest book!). I am still shaking my head in disbelief as to who Elaine thought she was helping here? The KC? I don't think they'd see it that way! Crazy logic.

Here's the link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/p00k0x5n 44 minutes in
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Suzu said…
What's "the KC"?
13 September 2011 at 00:37
Beverley Cuddy said…
Apologies Suzu, have spelt out KC as Kennel Club now the first time I mention them. The fact you ask the question suggests the KC isn't as well known as it thinks and maybe needs to be raising its profile among pet owners if it wants to engage.
13 September 2011 at 07:01
dalriach said…
But the KC registrations havent gone down since Pedigree Dogs Exposed was forst shown in 2008, they are much the same. The only difference is that some breeds which have a lot of health problems like Rottweilers, Dobermanns and Boxers have found their registrations well down, while some breeds are well up. If PDE as had any effect on what pedigree dogs people buy, it suggests they are doing their homework more carefully before buying, asking more questions of breeders and avoiding breeds with health problems. That has been a very positive effect of PDE!
I dont see how PDE can be blamed for ill informed buyers who get sick puppies from puppy farms - the whole message of PDE was that breeders of pedigree dogs shouldnt be producing puppies with health problems
The current numbers of sick unregistered puppies coming out of puppy farms is a whole different issue. Although the KC needs to do a long hard think about how some puppy farmers get their litters registered with the KC
13 September 2011 at 08:49
Anonymous said…
The puppy buying public are mainly interested in paying a large ammount of money to anyone who is offering a designer crossbreed. They do not want to wait and have a KC registered puppy from health checked parents,so they go to where ever a puppy is instantly available.will they never learn?If they did not buy from puppy farms and petshops they would shut down
13 September 2011 at 13:05
Anonymous said…
I have no time for the KC as when I reported a breeder the KC knew about the breeders bad practices, even with evidence still to this day have done nothing to stop the breeder and keeps allowing registration of dogs.

And to the Anonymous that said...

"They do not want to wait and have a KC registered puppy from health checked parents,so they go to where ever a puppy is instantly available.will they never learn"

The KC have many puppy farmers and bad breeder on there books. Many bad apples around if they KC dealt with them and banned them from KC register then the KC and good breeders could hold heads high.
14 September 2011 at 13:15
Anonymous said…
"The fact you ask the question suggests the KC isn't as well known as it thinks " did you work in the PR part of the KC Beverly before? perhaps you didnt do a very good job there either!
14 September 2011 at 23:12
Beverley Cuddy said…
How lovely anonymous. So nice to hear from you again with your positivity and useful input. I am sure you do your job really efficiently and contribute a great deal to making the world a better place.
15 September 2011 at 09:18
Anonymous said…
My point re people buying from anywhere and the reply that the KC registers from "bad breeders" just reiterates that the anyone buying a puppy should take the responsibility to research and buy from a reputable breeder with health tested stock,not foolproof but better than buying poorly bred/reared then blaming everone but themselves if it goes wrong.
15 September 2011 at 12:46
Annie said…
This is truly a sad situation on all fronts. There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that PDE was the catalyst for today's puppy purchasers buying puppies from puppy farms and, indeed, it would make sense that the documentary would have made the general public even more aware of canine health and how to look for a pedigree puppy... The reduction in registration of boxers, rotties and dobes could possibly also be due to the docking ban as many believe these dogs don't look "right" with a tail... :-(( Many breeders who dock gundogs can get away with it by producing a statement from a friendly gamekeeper but in these breeds that would not be available. I wonder when people are going to wake up and smell the coffee regarding puppy farmers and BYBs. Our desire to own the smallest dogs ie teacups and the largest dogs gets in the way of everything. Unfortunately I believe that dogs simply fit into our throwaway society. Only this week I had to dissuade somebody from purchasing a teacup chi, explaining that while the breed is the smallest in the world, if you take it to teacup size you're just asking for health problems. The reason for wanting to own a teacup was so that they could fit it in their pocket. No good breeder will be breeding these dogs and if they are found in a litter I'm sure they would be sold at half-price with no papers by reputable breeders. The whole area of puppy farming needs government intervention; it was around well before PDE and it will be around long after PDE2. It's also true that the Kennel Club register puppies from puppy farmers, BYBs, commercial breeders and the like. The whole area of registration really needs to be separated from health with either a completely separate department outwith the umbrella of the KC generally setting the standards or a government department taking on the job and giving the KC and all other registrations the guidelines under which to work. It simply cannot go on the way it's going now. It's always evidence in times of financial cutbacks that dog breeding surges as a way to make extra money too. Sad....
15 September 2011 at 18:40
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