The Pet Charity has welcomed the fact that Marc Abraham’s PupAid e-petition has raised public awareness of the blight that is puppy farming but said it was very concerned that the proposed debate over the sale of puppies and kittens in pet shops was misdirected and would actually do little to end this appalling trade.
The organisation added that in skewing a debate to be anti-pet shops, it went against much of what The Pet Charity advocated when guiding the public in selecting a pet.
Agood specialist pet shop that sells animals will have qualified personnel, will be inspected not only by public traffic, but also by their local authority and as part of their licence is required to keep a record of their pet suppliers, it argued.
Paul Miley, Chairman, said: “The Pet Charity supports all organisations that are working towards ending the cruel practice of puppy farming, but we believe the focus should be to tackle unregulated websites and newspaper ads, together with stricter enforcement of border control to stop the huge rise in these animals being imported from across Europe.
"Solely pet shops have been stigmatised for selling puppies and kittens for many years, so it is now only a handful that have licenses and even fewer that actually sell them. Instead, significant pet numbers are now bought and sold through internet advertising, with no controls on impulse purchase and no recourse if the owner needs advice. This debate is a missed opportunity to really sort out the issue, whilst at the same it will lessen public confidence in the one place that is licensed, regulated, trained and accountable – good specialist pet shops.”
In speaking for the pet owner, The Pet Charity is able to point out the misalignment of standards that exist for anyone trying to do the right thing in buying a pet. Whether from a registered breeder, a hobby breeder, a re-homing centre or a retailer, the public should expect the same standards; frustratingly this is not the case and this motion fails to address it. The Pet Charity therefore asks everyone concerned with this debate to work together and bring in a level playing field. Quite simply that anyone selling a pet animal (whether retailer, breeder or re-homing centre) should be registered with their local authority, open to independent inspection, have personnel (whether volunteer or salaried) trained and qualified in pet animal welfare and be able to issue the appropriate guidance on long term care for the pet.
"The Pet Charity calls upon the industry, welfare charities, campaign groups and pet societies to end the anomalies that allow not just puppy farming but pet welfare problems to exist. Prompted by Marc Abraham’s petition we would like to see an end to private homes registered as pet shops, registration for the thousands of re-homing centres, the rejection that a hobby breeder can have up to five litters per year (from two bitches, we would consider this ‘farming’) and revisions to the current PET Travel Scheme that has a loophole allowing for commercially-bred foreign puppies to be brought into the UK as domestic pets," added the charity.
Lastly, we would call for collaboration that acknowledges that great strides have been made in pet welfare, many of them coming from the leading welfare charities but also from the professional pet businesses that have allowed the British public to benefit from their strong relationship with pets in our society.
