Puppy Farming Ireland

News
Dogged determination

Article taken from Sunday Life -UK

Sunday, May 13, 2007
By Stephen Breen
Stephen Philpott has been on the front line in Ulster's war on animal cruelty since 1993.
During that 14-year period, the outspoken USPCA chief executive and his officers have been subjected to sinister threats and other forms of intimidation.
But Mr Philpott and his team have vowed to continue their battle against the sickos who continue to inflict pain and suffering on defenceless animals.
And, as the people of Northern Ireland prepare for the restoration of the Assembly, the USPCA has urged our MLA's to address the growing number of puppy farms in the province.
The plea was made during a week in which the animal charity was forced to hand back 45 dogs to a suspected illegal dog breeding operator in Co Fermanagh. The charity was also involved in a very public row with Belfast City Council, over the seizure of a pit-bull.
Although the illegal industry is a massive money-making operation on both sides of the border, the USPCA branded Northern Ireland as the puppy-farming "capital" of Europe.
And, with criminal gangs now entering the lucrative trade, Mr Philpott says now is the time for local politicians to combat the problem.
Said the USPCA man: "The plague of puppy farming is spreading throughout Northern Ireland at an alarming rate - especially in the border counties.
"Every part of Ireland has experienced an increase in the theft of pedigree dogs and the USPCA has evidence of the link between these thefts and local puppy farms.
"Conditions are appalling, animals penned up in blacked-out sheds or kept in scrap cars are two recent examples of the appalling conditions uncovered by USPCA/ISPCA Welfare Officers."
He added: "They survive in their own excrement and drink from filthy containers. The USPCA has found breeding stock being fed on the maggot infested carcasses of butchered bull calves or out-of-date meat products.
"Puppy farmers do not welcome visitors. One dealer in Fermanagh retails hundreds of pups each year through newspaper ads in Northern Ireland and exports thousands more through a well-established route into Scotland and England.
"I cannot believe I was forced to return dogs last week when the Public Prosecution Service suggested I didn't have enough experience in animal welfare. This is what we are up against and last week was one of the worst in my time in animal welfare.
"Thousands of these animals are being exported each year to feed the frenzy for trendy dogs gripping the British Isles and Europe. This has to stop now."
Mr Philpott also urged local animal lovers to keep away from puppy farms and to report their existence to the USPCA.
"If would-be buyers could see and smell the filth into which their new puppy was bred they would run a mile, probably retching all the way.
"Remember, by buying it you're not rescuing the unfortunate animal, you're actually perpetuating the problem," he added.
"People must never, ever buy a pup from anyone other than a licensed breeder.
"Remember, a farmed pup being offered in Gateshead could have a mother in Kerry.
"Don't listen to excuses, however plausible. If you don't see the mother - don't part the cash."

PUPPY FARMING PETITION

PLEASE SIGN TO END THIS DREADFUL TRADE!!

PASS THE LINK TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY..

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/banpuppyfarms/

PRETTY AS A PICTURE - MAYBE NOT!!

With 'thanks' to the many organisation World Wide for the use of these photos!
As horrific as they are - they need to be seen by as many people as possible... this trade only exists because:

'OF YOU'!

PLEASE STAY AWAY FROM THE COMMERCIAL WORLD OF PUPPIES!

Do you really wish to condone this treatment?
If you buy from petshops and commercial outlets - this is EXACTLY what you will be doing!

Lesley Hope

Feb 2007

Shop It To Stop It - Puppy Farming

INDYMEDIA IRELAND REPORT

600 litters of dogs on average are advertised weekly in newspapers, periodicals and free adds papers here in Ireland.400 DOGS FOR SALE adds appear on average in one free adds paper alone, many of these for up to nine different breeds, the majority of which are being raised on PUPPY FARMS here in Ireland. Other adds appear on notice boards everywhere with photos of cute pups, obviously a little money spinner for people who breed their animals at home.Many people who buy a pup do not realise they are causing untold misery for the pups mother who lives her life virtually 'in pup' and many report buying the saddest, sickest pup just to save it.In reality this easy money prompts the breeder to continue.Most advertisements you reply to are from rural areas where the sellers offer to bring the pups to a motorway garage or nearest town to exchange the deal. This ploy is twofold, the main reason is the buyer does not see the conditions the dogs are kept in, the other is that PUPPY FARMING has now become a lucrative TAX FREE enterprise.You cannot be 'shopped' if no one knows where you live.Oficially it is tax liable but who is checking...EXCEPT US.

With up to 1500 euros for the bigger Mastiffs or rare breeds,(more for Females) and a litter raising up to 5,000 euros or more, another twist has emerged.Someone who wants a dog but cannot afford an 'expensive' dog is given a female at a reduced price.The deal being that this pup when on heat is bred and mated with the original sellers dog and a female of the new litter is given back as part payment to close the deal.This ploy results in even more dogs coming on to the market.Neapolitan Mastiffs cost 900e male and 1300-1500e female.So The Alliance for Animal Rights is now reporting details of dog sellers to their local
REVENUE INVESTIGATIONS UNITS and urging the public to do likewise.The problem of over-breeding here in Ireland is causing the deaths of thousands of unwanted dogs annually.IF GENUINE PEOPLE WANT TO HAVE A DOG IN THEIR FAMILY, they will rescue one from a pound or shelter. Many designer dogs die in dog pounds too.

Harrods

The dog pens were filmed by a secret camera

Stop Puppy Farming

Not new...but still worth reading.

This store was selling these sad puppies for hugely inflated prices..read what you were getting for your money..

Since the BBC investigation , Ceredigion council has issued the farm with a licence to breed and sell dogs. (read full story)

Harrods has stopped using a Wales puppy farm to stock its pet shop after it was exposed as part of a joint undercover investigation by the BBC and Dogs Trust, the UK’s largest dog welfare charity. The investigation highlighted once again the problem of puppy farming across the country.The investigation was instigated following a tip-off from a former Harrods employee who was concerned at the large numbers of dogs being supplied to the store from Windy Rise Farm.Catherine Gillie, former veterinary nurse and Dogs Trust Assistant Field Director, managed to get inside the farm in Wales as part of the investigation. She says “Conditions inside this puppy farm were absolutely horrific. Both puppies and their mothers displayed obvious signs of neglect, starved of affection and proper care, and were in kept in appalling conditions, with no proper bedding, no access to the outside world, and unable to even see over the top of their pens.”

The Dogs Trust fears this is just the tip of the iceberg of what could be an illegal multi-million pound industry across the UK, and is strengthening its campaign to stamp out puppy farming.Clarissa Baldwin, Dogs Trust Chief Executive says “Dogs Trust has been campaigning for many years to put an end to the appalling and inhumane practice of puppy farming. Sadly, the puppy farm shown in this broadcast is just one of many across the country.”
Dogs Trust has launched a campaign condemning puppy farming. The charity urges the public to help, and is appealing for you to show your support by displaying its ‘Stop Puppy Farming’ car sticker.

Dogs Trust has also issued full guidelines on how to make sure you don’t buy a puppy from an illegal breeder and advises anyone thinking of buying a puppy to make sure that a puppy is always seen with its mother, preferably in its home environment.The full guidelines and the special car sticker are available by emailing puppyfarming@dogstrust.org.uk or by phoning 020 7837 0006.Clarissa Baldwin says “Puppies bought from the adverts in local newspapers, or the pet shop on the high street, could so easily come from a puppy farm. Even a pedigree certificate or registration is not necessarily proof the puppy has been properly reared or bred. As a nation of animal lovers, we urge people to carefully consider where they get their dog from.”There is no legal definition for the term ‘puppy farming’ but it is generally accepted as referring to dog breeders who breed indiscriminately, mass-producing puppies from their bitches and sell their puppies onto a third party.The dogs at puppy farms are quite simply there to churn out litter after litter of pups. They are not given adequate care, are often fed poor quality diets, lack veterinary attention, are under socialised and under stimulated. On top of all this, the puppies produced are often in-bred and suffer the medical consequences that this brings. Puppy farm dogs are treated like battery hens, cooped up, devoid of contact and only useful when they come on heat the next litter can be produced. The health and living conditions of the dogs is not important because the puppy farm owner can count on the fact that the bitch and the ‘home’ environment will never be viewed.Anyone even tempted by a cheap farmed pup should think twice, if only for the sake of their future expenditure. The pup is cheap because the breeder has cut corners, compromising the pup’s long term physical and mental health. This could cost the new pup’s owner dearly. Your ‘bargain’ pup could prove a sickly, costly, nervous wreck and your purchase has helped perpetrate the suffering of puppy farmed dogs.Put simply, if no one purchased from these places then they would cease to exist. No punters equals no business.


If you know of a puppy farm, lobby your MP and generally do everything legally within your powers to expose the farm and the people who own it.Exposing puppy farming and doing all you can to eradicate this barbaric practice is definitely worth your while.

Safe...Until Born!

The top photo is of a puppy in the rubbish pen...on a puppy farm

No love, no warmth, no kindness and only considered a comodity. Think of all the dogs like this one and tell yourself you can look the other way. Think of him or her when you see that puppy in the pet shop window and how miserable and unhappy his or her life truly is. Think of this face and get involved. This could be your puppy's mother.


The photo below - shows the puppies on their way to the retail outlets

Photos Taken From..

HELP OUTLAW PUPPY ESTABLISHMENTS UK

HELP OUTLAW PUPPY ESTABLISHMENTS UK

BAN THE SALE....

PLEASE HELP THE KENNEL CLUB

BAN THE SALE OF PUPPIES FROM PET SHOPS!

I urge you write to your MP (they may not know the first thing about this trade) but write. Ask your MP to support this cause and add their name to the following!

The KC along with David Taylor MP has tabled an EDM (early day motion) in regards to the New Proposed Welfare Bill [i]The Sale of Puppies in Pet Shops EDM 863

sale of puppies

Only with your support and many other like minded people will we ever get this trade banned.

Lesley

Hope-UK

THAT MAN WALSH

LATEST ON JOHN WALSH - BANNED FOR LIFE

Cruel puppy breeder is banned for life by court
A DOG breeder has been banned from keeping the animals for life and ordered to pay £48,485 costs after losing his appeal.
John Michael Joseph Walsh, 55, who has previous convictions relating to animals, was found guilty earlier this year of animal cruelty and the transportation and abandonment of nine young puppies on May 20, 2004.
Blandford magistrates had heard how Walsh, of Denton Hall Kennels, Low Lane, Brampton, Cumbria, left nine puppies in a parked car at Weymouth ferry port on a hot summer's day while he took another six puppies over to Jersey.
continued...

Walsh appealed against his conviction on the grounds that the puppies did not suffer.
He also claimed, through his defence lawyer David Lyons, that there may have been a third party who attended the puppies but was not prepared to give evidence.
Judge John Harrow, presiding at Dorchester Crown Court, heard how Walsh had chosen to give no evidence throughout the original trial and the appeal except for telling Sergeant Paul Senior, of Cumbria Police, to let them prove I was in the car'.
The court was also told how Walsh, on his way back from Jersey, had answered a mobile phone call from police operator Dawn O'Leary in which he admitted he had left the puppies in the car but said they had plenty of food and water.
Charles Gabb, prosecuting, said that Walsh drove the green Vauxhall estate to the ferry port to catch the 7.15am departure leaving two small boxes, containing six Jack Russells, two Papillions and one Bichon Frise, in the back of the car knowing he was not due back until 2.40pm.
Mr Gabb said that the temperature outside the vehicle reached 24C and likened the heat inside to that of an oven or sauna.
He added: "You don't need to be a vet to know that in those circumstances those dogs were suffering."
The puppies were eventually freed from the car at 12.15pm after a vigilant parking attendant alerted her boss and the police.
Subsequent examination at about 2pm, by vet David Cumber, revealed that the dogs showed no signs of heat stroke.
Further expert evidence from vets Roger Eddy and Robin Carpenter confirmed that although these puppies appeared to show no signs of suffering from heat stroke when examined by Mr Cumber, if they had been left any longer in those conditions they may have died.
Mr Cumber added: "Dogs die in hot cars, they die very quickly if the critical temperature is reached."
The court also heard how Walsh, the man allegedly responsible for introducing Foot and Mouth disease into Ireland by smuggling sheep, spent time in prison for cruelly transporting 49 puppies and three kittens in nine carry-cases.
Judge Harrow upheld the conviction and sentence, of a 100-hour community rehabilitation order, imposed by Blandford magistrates, but extended the 10-year ban on keeping dogs to a lifetime ban.
Walsh was ordered to pay £48,485 costs.
RSPCA Inspector Marie Griffiths said after the appeal: "We are absolutely delighted with the outcome, especially the lifetime ban so that no other animals can suffer in this man's hands."

John Walsh has been convicted of animal cruelty

(photo courtesy of BBC News)

Cruel Man Banned from keeping Dogs
12 January 2006

A Cumbrian man has been banned from keeping dogs for ten years and ordered to pay almost £35,000 in costs, after leaving nine puppies in a car on a sweltering hot day.
55-year-old John Walsh, from Brampton, locked the dogs in his Vauxhall Astra at Weymouth Quay, in Dorset, while he travelled by ferry to meet prospective buyers, in May 2004. The car's windows had been left only slightly open.Walsh was also ordered to carry out 100-hours community work by magistrates in Blandford. The conviction has been welcomed by local RSPCA officers.
In 2001, he was jailed for illegally importing sheep infected with foot and mouth into Ireland,an act which the judge said had cost the country "tens of millions of Euros."
In this latest incident, the nine puppies had been left in carrier boxes, each designed to hold one cat. The court heard that when he returned from his ferry journey, Walsh avoided police and RSPCA inspectors by hiding inside a van.

CASE UPDATE!!

John Walsh, of Low Row, near Brampton, was ordered to pay almost £2,300 to Allana Hamilton after she won a case of unfair dismissal yesterday.Mr Walsh, who was convicted in December of animal cruelty after he left nine puppies in a car on a hot day, walked out of the Carlisle tribunal after the chair refused his request to postpone the hearing.Miss Hamilton, 22, said she worked for him from March to October under a verbal contract and looked after 50 kennels virtually by herself. She said the day before she was due to leave for a holiday, she received a text message from Mr Walsh which said: “Sorry, I have to let you go, things aren’t working out. Get in touch when you get back from holiday.”When she phoned him on her return, he said if she ever wanted to see October’s wages she would have to find herself a lawyer, the tribunal heard.Mr Walsh said he had discovered documents which would prove Miss Hamilton was overpaid.Tribunal chairman Jeremy Hargrove said there was no explanation why he had not raised this issue earlier. He said Mr Walsh “put forward no valid defence whatsoever”.Miss Hamilton’s claims of breach of contract and wrongful dismissal were well-founded, he said, and she was entitled to three weeks’ wages, one week’s holiday pay and one week’s notice. This was increased by 30 per cent as compensation for the delay in payment, amounting to £2,294.Miss Hamilton, of Barnhill, Dumfries, is now back in the job she gave up to go and work in the kennels. Mr Walsh was ordered to pay a legal bill of £35,000 after he was convicted of animal cruelty in December. Dorset magistrates heard how he left six Jack Russells, two papillons and a bichon frise in his Vauxhall Astra in sweltering heat. Mr Walsh is appealing the conviction at Dorchester Crown Court on June 26.


Source: Cumberland News - April 28, 2006