The controversy over selling puppies in pet shops continues to rage on with TV vet Marc Abraham accusing the Pet Industry Federation of being the primary opposition to calls for a ban in stores.
The founder of PupAid says: “The huge pet shop demand for puppies sustains establishments that breed puppies in large quantities with minimal costs. Inevitably this results in low standards of welfare and is the generally accepted definition of a 'puppy farm.'
“These establishments must produce and sell large numbers of puppies to survive but do not have a sufficient customer base due to poor conditions and geographical location. As a result they depend on selling to pet shops.
“The baseline is that pet shops and intensive, low welfare breeding establishments are intrinsically linked as they need and support each other. Banning the sale of puppies in pet shops would greatly reduce, if not almost eliminate, the need for 'puppy farms' to exist.”
The TV vet's comments are made in a blog published on the Huffington Post website called: 'Why Does the Pet Industry Federation (PIF) Continue to Withhold Public Information?'
He claimed that PIF was still withholding public information, namely the criteria for the organisation’s Puppy Vendor Audit and identity of members that had successfully passed.
Marc added: “It is important to clarify that the term 'pet shop' is highly misleading as our research shows most premises selling puppies are actually private rather than traditional retail premises. The Pet Animals Act 1951 defines a pet shop very specifically: ‘The carrying on at premises of any nature (including a private dwelling) of a business of selling animals as pets.
“The fact that farms, riding stables, and residential homes can all be licensed as 'pet shops' means identifying 3rd party vendors becomes all but impossible for consumers. Mr Baker makes frequent reference to pet shop regulation but attempting to regulate the immense variety of premises that now sell puppies using the same basic parameters that apply to pet superstores and aquatic centres is never going to be effective.”
Marc finished his blog by saying: “We ask PIF to join with us, calling for an urgent review of areas where welfare is most compromised and bring pet retail into a new era.”
You can read the blog in full by clicking here
Pet Trade Xtra contacted the Pet Industry Federation but the organisation said it wasn't ready to give a response to claims made in the Huffington Post blog. It would be issuing a statement in due course.
