Nov 21, 2007

Should we ban the sale of animals in pet shops?

[Photo by Animax]


Sydney's Lord Mayor, Clover Moore MP, wants to introduce a law to ban the sale of animals in pet shops because too many pets are being put down due to 'impulse purchases'. Dog lovers pass by the window and fall in love with the cute "take me home" puppy face, without thinking about the zillion responsibilities of caring for a dog for its entire life. When reality hits home, often these innocent dogs become unwanted and then dumped at the pound. Not a good start to life, is it?

If the Bill is successful and markets and pet shops no longer permit to sell companion animals, Clover Moore says we might see a decreasing of demand for puppy milling and consequently a reduction of the number of animals dumped and needlessly destroyed. But what if it doesn't? Puppy farms breed hundreds of dogs a year and often sell puppies cheaper than in pet stores. Qualified dog breeders will advise to check out the puppy's parents to make sure they don't carry any genetic diseases. If you're lucky to see the parents at a puppy farm, it will most likely be the sorry sight of a heavily pregnant bitch waiting to birth the next of many litters.

I'm not sure if banning the sale of animals in pet shops is the answer to unwanted dogs. People need to be educated by animal health and behaviour experts. If people cannot find dogs in pet shops and do not wish to go to a puppy farm, then they will consider doing it themselves at home!

As editor of Dogs Life magazine, I regularly meet people who want to breed at home "for fun". They will find a "suitable mate" (not sure what that means because when I ask them about hereditary diseases, I generally get a blank look), and when the puppies are born, they will keep one, Aunt Rose and Uncle Benny are ready to take two, and a few friends have put their hands up. Let's assume all have thought about the lifelong responsibility of dog ownership - including forking out hundreds of dollars a year for ongoing veterinary, food and related bills.

But what if the birth goes wrong? I remember receiving an email, that their dog had gone into labour overnight, and how long was too long to wait for the puppies to come out? The email came over a Friday night and it was Monday morning by the time I responded - call your vet ASAP!! I never heard back so I don't know if there were in fact any serious complications.

When people who are not qualified to breed take such risks, they are sometimes faced with an unhappy ending. The puppies die and the mother suffers a horrible and painful death.

Not fun anymore is it?

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

as a dog lover it breaks my heart to walk past a pet shop and see their sad faces and not be able to help them. It makes me angry when i see the dogs labbled with riddiculous names (puggle, IMPLYING PUG CROSS BEAGLE) AND THEN they ask for ridiculous ammounts of money that you would spend more then a dog with a pedigree. then they claim their staffy x dogs are waiting for something from a registered breeder. If not making it illegal at least have standards i seen a 4 month old beagle x that they still wanted $1200 for

Anonymous said...

I think some people aren't even looking for a dog and they walk past a pet shop and see a little, cute puppy and buy it without even researching the breed. Some pets shops say all there puppies are from registered breeders but a breeder wouldn't breed random cross breeds like; shih tzu x Labrador. and the cost for these puppies is such a ripe off, I mean $450 for a Bullmastiff x staffy! You don't even see the pup's parents so how do you know if it is a purebred or not? I feel sorry for the puppies they spend at least a week of there puppy life in a cage when they can be out playing with there mums and dads.Some of the puppies look so board half the time and when their litter mates are gone theirs not even any company. I could say so much more but i'll leave it at this.
No more puppies in Pet Shops!!

Anonymous said...

I agree - no dogs in pet shops! I think the things people don't think of when impulse buying from a pet shop are the amount of time the dog might live for - it should be a commitment for the life of the dog - sometimes as long as 19 years or what type of dog really fits their lifestyle. There should be proper research about the breed you want and then find a reputable breeder. It might stop some of the dogs from back-yard-breeders and puppy mills ending up in pet shops sold for outrageous sums. Come to think of it I don't think I agree with any animals in pet shops! That's why I shop at my local Petstock - no cats or dogs!
Elaine

judithbetty said...

Pets should not be sold in pet shop, I had one woman tell me that she only bought the puppy as he was in a pet shop and looked lonely, thanks to Dogs Life magazine this dog was later found a loving home after the owner no longer wanted him.
Puppy farming and pet shops need to be stopped.
These places go hand in hand.
People tend to impulse buy with pet shops and I have had many people contact me that have purchased a puppy from a pet shop with hearing problems, bone and health issues.
So save the heart break buy from a reputable breeder or go visit the animal shelter and give a dog a break.

roxy1molly said...

I Think that pet shops need regulations for selling puppy's which should have a list of things the pups been eating what type of coat and grooming it will need and a signed from a vet saying the pup is healthy

Anonymous said...

It's appalling that dogs can be contained in those tiny glass enclosures. To suggest they are the breeds they advertise is ludicrous. Earlier last year a friends daughter "cornered her" outside the local shopping centre petshop and threw a TT until the supposed Llasa x Shihtsu was hers. They paid an amount nothing short of extortion for a misnamed dog that by 7 months was the size of a Kelpie. At that stage the dog was diagnosed with a genetic defect and had to be euthanised, with no responsibility taken by the pet shop.
PET SHOPS SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO SELL DOGS OR KITTENS!!!

Anonymous said...

We purchased our dog from a pet shop and I'd have to say we were quite happy with the whole experience. The staff were very professional and took some time to establish if we were ready or not, then gave us brochures for local puppy training businesses.

Anonymous said...

hey im jordyn, im a 14 year old girl and a DOG LOVER!!!!
i agree, dogs and puppies should not have to live in small cages in a pet shop. i think we should keep them in the R.S.P.C.A so they have a bigger space to run around and it is easier to find the right dog for you. that is were we got our rottie and he is the most perfect dog for us. i think most puppies come from dog farms. its a horrible place were they put two dogs (male and female) in a cage, and breed them untill they have to perfect looking puppy. they dont take care of them very much. the poor dogs dont get feed or get water very much and they dont get to run around and have fun like dogs should. i love dogs so i comletely agree with the whole idea. i cant stand what some people do to puppies and dogs.

Anonymous said...

My new dog, a Ridgeback, was "Dumped" at the local pound because of a genetic quirk that ended up with "too much white" on her according to the breeder. They thought the pound would euthanise her in a few days, saving them the trouble and expence to have it done.

Vet checks carried out show that she is in perfect health and her only fault is that she has a white patch on her chest and almost totally white front legs.

The other siblings were sold for prices up to $800 each (with papers), were as J.D. cost us a whopping $55 including microchipping and the first lot of vaccinations.

The same dog would probably sell for some rediculous price in a petshop by poorly trained staff getting $5 an hr and not caring a bit about the actual dog

Anonymous said...

I just wanted to say my friend bought a 3 week old moodle (wow, a cross breed!) from pets paradise in SA. At a very irronspsonible age this pup cost them $600. Three days after they brought it home it started to cough so they took it to the vet. It was very sick and had to get put down. This little pup could of had a long healthy life if it stayed with its mother and not have been sold at a pet store. this goes to show dogs (or any animal) from a pet shop shouldn't be bought. SO BAN THE SALE OF PUPPIES IN PET SHOPS!!!!

Anonymous said...

Ban pet shops from selling puppies and making a profit from little lives. I have worked in pets paradise pet shop i know how these animals are treated and sold. We were told to sell, sell, sell. I got fired because i brought to the owners attention that she did not buy a "min Maltese" it was in fact a 3 week old puppy. "it hadn't even broke teeth" AHH She didn't care and the puppy died. Now this is a pet shop chain that works with under regulations, but the don't care, they don't let the puppies out ever, they sell breeds that are not even the correct breed ie say there a purebred when they know there not, or there a doodle breed when there not. At the end of the day the pet shops will dog or say what ever it takes to bring in the money. I have never and will never by a puppy from a pet shop. GO TO REG BREEDER OR SHELTERS.
IF IT WASN"T FOR PET SHOPS SHELTERS WOULD BE HAPPILY OUT OF BUSINESS

Anonymous said...

i personally think that pet stores should ban the sale of animals. i have heard stories of bad experiences and problems with pets bought there and myself included, have had some terrible experience because of the wrong information i was given.
If animals are not banned from pet stores i strongly suggested that all employers and employees undergo alot of study and provide proof of certificates to provide the CORRECT information and CARE for all animals they sell. I hate think of all the wrong information they have/are given and owners stressing because of it.

Anonymous said...

How can you trust the NSW government to run your lives when they can't even manage the dog population?

It's time for a change - to a more intelligent and compassionate political party.

Anonymous said...

uwbovtlIt makes me very sad to see animals being sold in pet shops.I feel that dog breeding should be taken very seriously.People should have a licence to breed and only breed purebreds.Its,getting so out of control,with cross breeding,and back yard breeders,that are only in it for the money and not the health and welfare of the dogs.This is why there is so many dogs in shelters,that no one wants,just waiting to be put down.As a serious dog lover,it breaks my heart.

Madi97 said...

i don't think we should BAN pet shops selling them but i think pet shops. but i htink someone should tell them 2 lower the price because for 1 thing they most of the time aren't vaccinated, 2nd there left in small cages which might make us go aww because thier in such a small cages their sad faces make us all gooey! but pet shops should reassure people and say: you now its going to need 2 b fed, vaccinated, cared for with lots of attention and all this other stuff but their more focussed on getting money so in some cases they should! omg i probaly made no sense soz

Anonymous said...

i agree, pet shops should be banned as so many if not all are completely unethical, and support backyard breeders. to them the only bottom line to thm is the dollar, not the pet/customers welfare/happiness.
they seel pups on a "aaawwww" factor, if its cute it will sell, healthy, happy or otherwise, no matter the age or health of the pup.

Anonymous said...

Dogs (and cats) are not a commodity item. They should not be bought and sold with a profit in mind. They should be bought by people that are actively seeking a pet of a particular breed that they have researched. Our brains release endorphins when we see the cute little faces of puppies in shop windows that dies off when the dog gets to 6 months and jumps and barks, so nobody pays attention to it. There are more surrenderrs of pet shop dogs than any other means of aquiring a dog.
Breeding should not be allowed by back yard operations of inexperienced nobodies that have no idea what they are doing. I see people that do not want to get their dogs desexed because they want to have a litter with them. When they are asked why, it is just because it would be a nice idea; their dog would make a great parent.
Let’s just stop talking and start voting with action. This bill needs to be passed nationally as soon as possible.

Anonymous said...

DON'T BREED & BUY WHEN HOMELESS PETS DIE.

SAY NO TO PETS IN PET SHOPS.

We have a billion dollar industry in Animals in this country. Pet Shops are only interested in the almighty dollar, Shelters are bursting at the seams with limited money & resources. Government continues to sit on it's hands. Support the Bill "LEAD THE WAY" put an end the over population. Put an end to the unnecessary euthanasia.

More than 200,000 companion animals DIE in Australian Shelters & pounds every year. How many of those deaths are YOU responsible for.

Anonymous said...

I fully agree that petshps need to be banned from selling pets.They can sell pet requirements, but live animals should be available from registered breeders.But here is the thing.There is no guarantee a registered breeder does the right thing unless there is a system in place to monitor their standards and practices.I dont beleive that is the case, as I know of a breeder who has had a lot of dogs confiscated, one of which I have adopted, they are purebred valuable dogs, but for the sake of anonymity at this point will not go into details.At this time, he is not being proscecuted, and no one is really monitoring whether he is indeed giving up all the dogs.It appears he may not be.So beware, even if you buy from a so called reoutable breeder, be aware that there are suffering dogs out there,caused by their neglect and sheer greed.

Anonymous said...

as i dog lover it makes me angry to see people gathering around the over little cute overpriced crossbreed puppies in the pet shop window when i know they are most likely to come from puppy mills around australia. if people would know more about these things i dont think they would buy a puppy. all too young to leave there mother thrown in too a tight crate with no food or water for the trip to the pet shop.And most have health problems. And noone knows about their mother whose been over bred and stuck in a cage until she is not usful then shot, go to http://www.deathrowpets.net/.

if you give it much thought no accredided breeder would sell there dogs to a pet shop, would you? i would much like to see where they are going to and who is going to be looking after them for there next 10 yrs of there life. And it breaks my heart to see healthy dogs in pounds never getting a 2nd chance home and being put done, being in the pound is stressful enough. people shud stop buying puppies from a petshop and discourage the pet shop on why you dont shop there anymore.us pet owners must start standing up for the welfare of our fellow compainoins and acting on it instead of turning a blind eye!!!!

Anonymous said...

We at WWW.DEATHROWPETS.NET are working hard to ensure 5 things happen:

1)People rehome an animal from a rescue agency or reputable breeder as a first choice 9ie no pet shop sales of pups and kittens)
2) we put out of business mass production breeders and irresponsible backyard breeders
3)We enable Council Pounds to be far better at rehoming animals
4)mandatory desexing of all animals except breeding stock
5)educate the public as to what is going on . and in responsible animal ownership

Clover Moore's Animal Regulation of Sale Bill 2009 is a fantastic catalyst to raise awarensss of the issues. Please visit our website to get more information on this and to sign a petition to NSW Premier Nathan Rees to call for a Parliamentary Inquiry into the pet industry www.deathrowpets.net

w pointon said...

No animals in petshops. No parrots squashed in toiletries, no lizards secured in suits, nothing!

Anonymous said...

I think all pets should be purchased though the RSPCA there are far to many people breading animals for MONEY. All breaders should be registered with the RSPCA to manage the amount of animals being produced. There are FAR too many animals being produced and ending up being put down.

Anonymous said...

hi im writting to you to let you know about my dog leon. he was the second labrador we bought our other dog tammy was bought from a breeder. i found an article on the internet with a picture of these labradors at a pet shop window. when we went to the pet store he was the last one available and i knew i had to buy him because i didnt want him to be alone. the owner at the pet store was carrying him around the shop and he loved people. although he was sleepy, quiet and very small we knew he was perfect. the pet store had a deal where an appt with their vet was free the vet said he was in perfect health and it wasnt until later on we found out his illnesses. he was around 8 weeks old when we bought him and i decided to take him to my own vet when i noticed he had burning red ears. the vet realised he had an ear infection and also had digestion problems. months later it developed into worse symptoms and he needed to have his ears washed out and he had stomach worms and many other common illnesses found amongst pet store dogs. symptoms persist and worsen weeks after they are out of the pet stores. i found before he was one he had chewed his nails to the point they were bleeding and his paws were red and infected underneath. after spending hundreds of dollars on his medications and surgeries and food trials we decided to see a specialist who honeslty told us the downfalls and long term committment of dealing with a dog with atopy. we are still in testing of what specifically is causing his allergies and we know that we are dedicated to him for the long run. despite the hundreds of dollars we spent on vet bills and moving to a much honest vet clinic we never regret taking him into our home. so id like to warn those of who think they want that doggy in the window. please think again and be prepared for the life long commitment you are about to embark.

Anonymous said...

hi im writting to you to let you know about my dog leon. he was the second labrador we bought our other dog tammy was bought from a breeder. i found an article on the internet with a picture of these labradors at a pet shop window. when we went to the pet store he was the last one available and i knew i had to buy him because i didnt want him to be alone. the owner at the pet store was carrying him around the shop and he loved people. although he was sleepy, quiet and very small we knew he was perfect. the pet store had a deal where an appt with their vet was free the vet said he was in perfect health and it wasnt until later on we found out his illnesses. he was around 8 weeks old when we bought him and i decided to take him to my own vet when i noticed he had burning red ears. the vet realised he had an ear infection and also had digestion problems. months later it developed into worse symptoms and he needed to have his ears washed out and he had stomach worms and many other common illnesses found amongst pet store dogs. symptoms persist and worsen weeks after they are out of the pet stores. i found before he was one he had chewed his nails to the point they were bleeding and his paws were red and infected underneath. after spending hundreds of dollars on his medications and surgeries and food trials we decided to see a specialist who honeslty told us the downfalls and long term committment of dealing with a dog with atopy. we are still in testing of what specifically is causing his allergies and we know that we are dedicated to him for the long run. despite the hundreds of dollars we spent on vet bills and moving to a much honest vet clinic we never regret taking him into our home. so id like to warn those of who think they want that doggy in the window. please think again and be prepared for the life long commitment you are about to embark.

Anonymous said...

With fur allergies and limited exercise space, we needed a particular breed of dog. I went looking for a breeder in WA and would loved to have found my pet on a farm with his family and met the breeders - or alternatively through a pet rescue shelter. I looked and looked but couldn't find what we wanted - i ended up finding him in a pet shop. He is a cross breed and he is perfect for us (and thankfully healthy). It was not the way I would have wanted it but what options are there when Canine Associations have such strict rules against crossbreeds and regulations on who can be a 'registered breeder' and reputable 'backyard breeders' are so hard to find. I don't agree with pet shop practices - I don't agree with euthanasing healthy 'surplus' bred animals or animal cruelty in any circumstance. But banning pets in petshops is only part of the issue, there needs to be some sort of national database where animals from both breeders and shelters can be advertised and sourced (have a look at the Pet Rescue website).

Anonymous said...

I agree, no puppies in pet shops... unless-
You see people there is a very obvious solution here.
Have much tighter regulations,
AND only sell rescue and shelter puppies/kittens.
It is the only way puppies or any other pet, should be allowed in a petshop.
Otherwise live animal sale in petshops have to stop. Or they will continue to support puppy mills and irresponsible breeding!

I would also just like to say GO PETSTOCK!!! They dont sell any puppies or kittens, and they support our local rescue group by having display days at their shop for our pets for adoption. Well done, and keep leading the way in pet care!

Anonymous said...

I went to K9 Catfish recently and was absolutely appauled to see the puppies they had for sale. They had I quote 'purebred staffys'. Now these staffys were the skinniest and most unhealthy puppies I've ever seen. Their ribs and hips were sticking out everywhere. There was no food in their cage either. They quite clearly weren't 8 weeks old and I'm not entirely sure they looked anything like purebreds. I walked out disgusted, upset and outraged. But I also thought- no wonder people buy them. They want to help the poor things. ALL PET SHOPS, lift your game or stop selling live animals. Thankyou.

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