Article:Calves, Lambs, Piglets and Puppies?

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Calves, Lambs, Piglets and Puppies?
Posted on December 27, 2010 by pawsitivedawgs
Originally posted February 10, 2010

Last week I was warned that a feature on puppy farming in Ireland was to be featured in RTE One’s Ear to the Ground show. I cringed at the thought of seeing puppies and their mothers in deplorable conditions and of ‘glib’ puppy farmers out to make a buck. So on Sunday afternoon I tuned in ready to hide my eyes if I saw anything too upsetting…

The reality couldn’t be further from this however and although I was upset it was an anger that I have rarely experienced before.

Puppy farms or puppy mills as they are often called are just as they sound – high volume, intensive farming of domestic dogs. But we are not talking about agricultural animals such as cattle, sheep and pigs – we are talking about raising animals destined to be household pets as if they were livestock.

The show opened with a comment from the journalist reporting that in the past we would go to our local farmer who happened to have a litter when we wanted a puppy. This was his segue into discussing the farming of puppies in an ‘industry’ that exports 30,000 puppies a year from Ireland to the UK alone, as well exporting them to places further away. It’s no wonder that Ireland has earned the name ‘puppy farm capital of Europe’.

You can watch the segment here:

To the untrained eye, perhaps puppy farms look like the perfect place to get your puppy but when you look closer the real menace is revealed. Let’s analyse the goings on in this show and hopefully expose this meant-to-be-expose.

* the piece starts with an introduction comparing the search for a working farm dog with puppies produced on puppy farms – this is very inaccurate as puppy farms are particularly concerned with producing puppies for the lucrative pet market; just look at the types and breeds of dogs produced
* some footage of the DSPCA shelter in Rathfarnham is shown - notice how different the dogs in the shelter act compared to many of the dogs and puppies seen on the puppy farms; this is very telling as dogs in shelters don’t always exhibit healthy or normal behaviours. Also the issue with featuring this organisation is questionable as they do not have a direct responsibility in relation to puppy farming rather the ISPCA do and their input would have been far more valuable
* the first puppy farmer featured states “that the vast majority of breeders look after their dogs extremely well” – unfortunately the stats or indeed my experience (nor the experiences of many others in behaviour and/or rescue) does not support this statement
* at around 2 minutes into the clip notice the stand-offish behaviour of the Boxer puppies; anything other than a delight in running towards humans is absolutely abnormal in puppies of this age and should raise some very serious red flags for anyone seeing this
* at about 3 minutes into the clip we are brought into a “whelping shed” which is quickly equated to a “calving shed” on a dairy farm – more on this later
* puppy farmers are able to charge EUR300-1500 per puppy – this is a lucrative business so there is obviously great incentive in keeping this practice going
* in the “whelping shed” notice just how clean the bedding is in each of the small pens – anybody who has ever owned just ONE puppy knows its impossible to keep their area clean for any longer than a couple of minutes – this leads me to believe that these pens were thoroughly cleaned before and during filming in an attempt to paint a rosier picture
* the former beef farmers featured prominently throughout this clip are located in Tyrone so are not affected by incoming dog breeding establishment legislation – again another irrelevant and questionable inclusion by the producers/journalist involved
* at about 3.50 minutes notice the wary behaviour of the Shih Tzu mum, the Bichon mum and the JRT/Corgi type mum; also notice the matted coats of the Bichon and Newfoundland mums – again suggesting to me that conditions are not always so clean
* at around 4.30 minutes one of the puppy farmers discusses a problem raised by the journalist that of ensuring that the dogs are exercised; the farmer explains that his opening of pens sees dogs unwilling to attempt to escape as “they know nothing else” – this is pretty much a description of an institutionalised and terribly undersocialised animal, and not the happy content dog as is intended to describe
* this same puppy farmer describes their dogs being able to exercise within their pens and that if a vet were to ascertain that a dog needed more attention in relation to behaviour that that would be provided – first of all it should be understood that unless a vet has extra qualifications to his name then he/she is not qualified to analyse behavioural health; nor was any vet featured on the show to challenge or verify these claims
* at about 5.40 minutes we see another puppy farmer describe his operation, albeit smaller than the previous one. This puppy farmer talks about exercising his dogs about 3 times a week and leaving a radio on to ensure socialisation – this is nowhere near adequate to ensure that a dog is healthy nor is it acceptable as a method of socialising puppies or indeed adult dogs
* this puppy farmer also states that his dogs are not in small, cramped pens but instead in all manner of housing as can be seen on the clip; one shot shows a group of Bichons in muddy conditions with terribly matted coats
* one prominently featured puppy farmer states that “dogs must be bred somewhere” - this is actually something I agree with but the devil is in the details!! Even though I am heavily involved in rescue and welfare work I still believe that pedigree dogs should be bred. But I believe that to breed dogs in a responsible fashion to ensure health, improvement in the breed, behavioural health and great pet animals that profit must come toward the bottom of the list of priorities. This means that breeding animals must be health screened and if not suitable they should be neutered. This means that breeders must be proficient at puppy rearing and socialisation so as to develop the best pet and companion animals. Check out our post giving a socialisation plan for breeders - this is a bare minimum plan to ensure that their puppies grow up to be behaviourally healthy. Do you think intensively reared puppies can even be provided with this level of care? If breeders are not doing this minimum then DO NOT BUY FROM THEM.
* John Gormley TD was also briefly featured discussing new dog breeding establishment legislation that is incoming to Ireland – I can only guess that the imminence of this legislation is causing some panic among puppy farmers hence the sympathetic light with which they are featured on this show. This new legislation does not cover welfare issues at all but more tackles licensing and fees of breeding establishments.
* Toward the end one prominently featured puppy farmer discusses the work of the Canine Breeders of Ireland, a dog breeding association established apparently by puppy farmers wishing to lobby government so that they can continue, under legislation, to breed puppies in the same conditions as livestock. Although from 2004 this parliamentary debate gives you a good idea of the goals of such puppy farming organisations.

After watching the show several times at this stage I am not as annoyed towards the puppy farmers as I am toward the show itself, the journalist, the producers and the TV channel. To portray such a controversial industry in such a positive light is questionable, in the first place. But then to leave out any comments or alternative views from relevant pet health care professionals is downright inappropriate. In fact, several health issues were glossed over and only given a one sided explanation.

In response to these points representatives have stated they would prefer to let people make up their own mind. That is something I am all for but how are people expected to do this if never given the full, unbiased picture?

Puppies cannot be reared successfully (from a behavioural and socialisation point of view) in the same manner as livestock.
First off, livestock and family pets have slightly different destinations, don’t you think?
You cannot expect a puppy who has lived in these even glossed over conditions to come into a family home with children, many different people types, household noises, TV going, meeting other pets, walking in a neighbourhood and all of the many and varied things we expect from our dogs as pets. Toilet training is a huge issue with dogs raised in conditions such as these as they have never learned to move out of their toileting area as they have not had the opportunity to do so.
We know that poor socialisation is the leading cause of behavioural issues in dogs ranging from separation distress to fears to aggression and everything else! Ireland already has inappropriate dog control law and knee-jerk BSL so it seems kinda pointless complaining unless we can catch the issue at the root – proper socialisation of puppies would mean little need for such legislation.

Second, the way in which puppies and livestock develop in respect to socialisation it totally different. Livestock are ‘precocial’ animals who are capable of moving away from momma within hours after birth. Therefore these young animals much go through super zipped socialisation in their first hours and days. Dogs, on the other hand, are ‘altricial’ and have a longer and more drawn out developmental period lasting through their first 12 weeks of life. If you get a puppy from such a place at 8 weeks old your puppy has missed at least two thirds of this essential socialisation time – time that you never get back and which takes enourmous work to over come this deficiency.

Please please please pass this information on so that we can make a difference to lots of dog’s lives. The issue of puppy farming must be publicised accurately so as to educate pet owners and prospective pet owners of the real side of puppy farming. If you have any ideas or comments in relation to puppy farming and this clip please leave a comment here to get discussion going.

If you feel as strongly about this as I do please make a formal complaint to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland. Here is a link to the complaint form.

People really don’t want livestock instead of a pet dog, do they?