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“Preloved” Dogs For Sale
Are these private individuals or puppy mills?
I belong to the Dalmatian Lovers! group on Facebook, where those of us smitten by spots share photos, videos and stories of our Dallys. A few days ago, one concerned member posted a “Preloved” classified ad for a six-month-old deaf female Dalmatian in the UK. The accompanying photo showed a neglected dog in a filthy outdoor kennel. A local good samaritan inquired about her and was horrified to learn that the seller had many other dogs in similar straits for sale. The next day, she picked up the Dalmatian, who in person, was clearly a mix and an adult. The owner said he had gotten her from a friend, and that she had never received vaccinations. Also, she was not deaf—simply independent and untrained! While I'm glad that this spot is safe, I worry about the other dogs in this man's care and how easily the public can be fooled. The ad claimed that the Dalmatian needed to be rehomed due to a baby, but a description of the premises sounds more like a puppy mill than a private individual's residence. Should online ads be regulated to ensure puppy mills are not selling dogs under false pretenses? If you bought a dog via an online classified ad, did you receive the dog as advertised? |
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Seems to me the best solution is to educate the public not to buy a dog from a pet shop, over the internet, or in any other situation where they have not met the breeder, and seen the conditions where the dog has been living. If there is no market for puppy mills, then that will solve a large piece of the problem with irresponsible back yard breeders. While we are at it, let's ban the pet stores that sell pets and keep these bad breeders in business. Finally, whenever a puppy mill is suspected, it needs to be reported and if validated, that breeder needs to have all of their animals confiscated and go to court to face punishment for animal abuse. Trying to police the problem by punishing the media where these people advertise misses the mark.
Well said.
I 'rescued' a dog that was advertised as an 'older puppy' from a 'rescue' orga. near Toronto. Turns out the'rescuer' is a backyard breeder well known to the authorities. My 'puppy' was estimated at 1.5 yrs old. He was (and still is)extremely shy. He had 0 muscle tone, was unneutered and had had 0 shots or vetting. My vet diagnosed several congenital deficiancies and told me my dog had had a broken tail and leg at some point which was never set properly.Although I love my dog and would never trade him for another I do regret being sucked in by this woman. I had thought myself pretty savvy about things and would never have willingly added to her enterprise.