Buying a puppy is easier than ever – and that’s the problem

Celebrity animal advocate and television presenter, Wendy Turner Webster, has joined forces with animal welfare charity, Naturewatch Foundation, to highlight the problems with buying a puppy during the festive season.

We all know the mantra ‘a dog is for life, not just for Christmas’, yet impulse puppy buying continues to happen in the holiday season. It’s time to ask: why is this still happening?

The online marketplace has made it easier than ever to purchase a puppy, from online classified sites to Facebook groups. These places are hotbeds for unscrupulous puppy farmers and their traders. The Great British Puppy Survey revealed that 45% of surveyed new puppy owners located their puppy through online classifieds. And 1 in 5 reported health or welfare related problems with their puppy after bringing them home, with 60 per cent of those saying their new pup became sick within the first month, sometimes resulting in hefty veterinary bills.

Over half the puppies purchased in the UK each year – around 400,000 – come from cruel puppy farms where animal welfare is disregarded in order to maintain low overheads and maximise profits.

Naturewatch Foundation’s newest celebrity patron, Wendy Turner Webster, commented:

“Enough is enough. It’s a shocking hypocrisy that we, a nation of dog lovers, are literally ‘loving’ dogs to death with our desire for quick and easy puppies on tap. Dog ownership is a huge commitment and should be given as much consideration as inviting someone new to become a member of your family. We need to stop retailing puppies as though they are tables or chairs, available at the click of a button, and we need to end puppy farming forever.”

Naturewatch Foundation and Wendy are calling on every UK dog lover to be a Christmas Canine Campaigner and help end puppy farming. Naturewatch Foundation Campaign Manager, Joanna Randall says:

“Being a Christmas Canine Campaigner simply means using your voice to stop someone buying a puppy farmed pup before it’s too late. Listen out for friends or family members talking about buying a puppy for Christmas, and politely explain why this is not a good idea for either the puppy or the gift recipient.”

Visit www.naturewatch.org for simple steps you can take to become a Christmas Canine Campaigner and help prospective puppy buyers identify puppy farmers before making a purchase they may soon regret.