Future Surrey and Hampshire dog owners urged to use registered breeders
The RSCPA have major concerns over so-called Puppy Farms
A leading animal charity is advising people in Surrey and Hampshire who want to get a dog to buy from registered breeders and to avoid puppy farms.
The RSPCA says they're a 'huge concern' to them and other animal welfare charities as breeding in poor conditions has a massive impact on the health of a young dog.
Puppy farming sees breeders put profits before the health and welfare of dogs with high levels of breeding.
RSPCA spokesperson, Amy Ockelford, told Greatest Hits Radio a dogs social abilities and future development suffers as a result, but the farms can be tricky to spot.
"People involved in these criminal activities are always adapting and evolving so that they can evade detection and continue going on unnoticed," she said.
She continued: "We've investigated puppy farming gangs who have kept and bred dogs in barns on rural farms in garden sheds, in urban areas, and many of them use different names, phone numbers and addresses to sell the puppies so that they can avoid detection."
'Red flags' to look out for
However, the RSPCA has issued advice on potential 'red flags' when looking for a new family member.
"Breeders who are selling large numbers of puppies at the same time, or puppies from different litters, people using the same name or contact number across different adverts on different websites. These are all red flags," Amy told GHR.
She added: "A huge red flag is anyone who arranged to meet you somewhere unusual, like a car park or a service station, or anyone who says that you can't see the puppy at home with their mother and litter mates, or in the environment where they were bred."
We're told we should aim to see our puppy several times and to meet the mother, to see where they've been bred and kept.
"Sellers who put pressure on you to buy quickly or won't let you visit multiple times, or who insist on paying cash could be unscrupulous," Amy said, who says that anything that causes us concern should be reported to the relevant authorities.
Welcoming a puppy into a family is an incredibly exciting time and we're urged to do our due diligence on the people we are buying them from.
But, as the saying goes, a dog is for life.
Amy said: "Getting a dog is such a wonderful time, but it's also a huge responsibility. So anyone who is thinking of adding a dog to their lives, please make sure that you've done lots of research and you understand fully the financial and time commitment involved in bringing up a dog.
"Make sure that everyone in the home is fully on board and everyone's committed to making sure that this dog has a wonderful life, if you do all of this, then it will be brilliant to add a dog to your family."