The Kennel Club claims the British public is to blame for an increasing number of sick puppies because it continues to buy pets from puppy farms.

In a determined effort to eradicate puppy farms from the UK, the Kennel Club is organising a Puppy Awareness Week 2013 from September 7 to 14.

According to the organisation British pet owners hand over millions of pounds to puppy farmers every year, thereby rewarding them for over-breeding bitches and breeding litter after litter of sick puppies in poor conditions.

Previous research by the Kennel Club has found that around 1 in 3 of puppy buyers do not take the responsible actions that will prevent them from possibly buying a puppy-farmed pet. This means that potentially more than 250,000 people a year buy a puppy from a puppy farm, and with prices ranging from £200 to over £1,000, puppy farmers are making millions of pounds.

Kennel Club Secretary Caroline Kisko said: ‘It is time to stop the staggering quarter of a million or more puppies that are churned out by puppy farms each year.

"We want to reach out to puppy buyers and stop them handing money over to dog breeders who don’t have a care about animal welfare. We want to stress to people that they should never pay money to someone they suspect of being a puppy farmer, even if they think they are doing a good thing by rescuing the puppy from the situation. If this is the case, then people should call their local authority or the RSPCA instead.”

Puppy farmers breed dogs irresponsibly without regard for the health and wellbeing of the puppies or the parents, without health tests, injections or appropriate care or socialisation. Puppy farms churn out litter after litter of undernourished and badly cared for puppies and then sell them on to unsuspecting owners, through pet shops, newspaper ads, online adverts and various other means.

The Kennel Club will be providing information during Puppy Awareness Week to help people understand how to buy a healthy, happy puppy and to raise money for the Kennel Club Charitable Trust, which supports charities and organisations that are making dogs’ lives better.

Caroline continued: “It is easy to buy a puppy responsibly – at the Kennel Club we have several thousand breeders who have signed up to the Kennel Club Assured Breeder Scheme, who abide by a number of rules and regulations which mean these breeders have committed to breed their dogs responsibly.

"When looking for a puppy, look for a Kennel Club Assured Breeder and always insist to meet the puppy first, in its breeding environment with its mother.”

For more information about the Puppy Awareness Week and buying a puppy responsibly, and the Kennel Club Assured Breeder Scheme, visit www.thekennelclub.org.uk/paw.