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It is hard to resist the charm of a dog, what with its wide eyes, forever wagging tail and wet kisses. But when one makes a decision to own a furry friend, the most important criteria on the checklist are to ensure that it looks ‘adorable’ and is a ‘good’ breed. So, when a pedigree dog is picked up, people end up paying an exorbitant amount for the ‘right’ breed. But most of them are unaware of the physical and mental strain a dog is put through by the breeders. This abysmal condition is one of the main features of the blossoming puppy mill in the City.
Pet breeding has become a booming business these days. Though it’s important to keep alive the various bloodlines, the harsh circumstances these dogs are put through are painful. Sanjana Madappa, a Compassion Unlimited Plus Action (CUPA) volunteer, says that there are certain criteria that breeders need to follow in order to ensure the well-being of adult dogs as well as their puppies. One needs to provide them the right amount of nutrition and supplements, take them for regular vet visits, ensure comfortable and clean living spaces, maintain stud books to ensure that inbreeding does not take place inadvertently, maintain intervals between pregnancies and non-separation of pups from the mother before a minimum of 10 to 12 weeks.
“As the proliferation of breeding pedigree dogs quickens and turns into a profitable trade, strict guidelines are in the offing to regulate the dog trade industry. Until recently, there were no firm guidelines for this, and unethical breeders and puppy mills have become a dime a dozen. The conditions of the adult dogs are deplorable and puppies born are weak, unhealthy and with multiple congenital defects. These are the dogs that eventually land up abandoned on the streets or in shelters,” she elaborates.
One of the latest trends by breeders is to place ads and listings of newborn pups on trading websites, where prospective customers can contact the breeders directly. But on further investigation, it has come to light that the uploaded photos in the ads are misleading, as breeders often place photos of healthy puppies as a sales strategy. Chinthana Gopinath, an animal welfare worker, believes that for every ‘ethical breeder’ who shows up, there mushroom more ‘unethical’ ones. “The basic ethical breeding practice is to ensure that the female is not bred before a certain age and not more than a certain number of times during her life span, and the puppies are not taken away from the mother before a certain age. Unfortunately, all this comes with a price for the breeders as well. Since the demand is to get puppies as young as possible, the breeders are willing to sell a look-alike of the healthy one.”
As per the latest statistics, dogs have gone from being man’s best friend to becoming a status symbol and a source of revenue. Mandy Vasudevan, a business analyst and dog rescuer, says, “Puppy mills treat dogs like commodities and not as living beings. They are kept in crummy cages, stacked on top of each other, where they end up staying in their own excrement for days. Even if we alter the laws, they are never enforced, which means a dog can be bred numerous times before they are abandoned or killed.” CUPA recently compiled a report on the puppy mills in the City and discovered that there are more than 15 breeders in each area. Some of the popular ones are in Russell Market, Shivajinagar, Surveyor Street, Basavanagudi, Arekere and Hennur Cross. The prices range from Rs 6,000 for German Shepherds, Rs 9,000 for Golden Retrievers, Rs 10,500 for Irish Setter pups and Rs 16,000 for Rottweilers. The prices also vary depending on the gender of the dog. The most shocking discovery was that many breeders in the City crossbreed and inbreed dogs with utter callousness and little knowledge of the consequences. Due to this, puppy mills and pet shops today are selling stunted, weak and unhealthy puppies.
In order to prevent such cruel acts, CUPA suggests that the BBMP ensures that commercial pet trade cannot be conducted without a licence of trade and periodic inspections by the authorities.
They also want them to impose a penalty on all parties involved in the purchase and breeding of dogs from breeders who do not possess the required licences from the Municipal Corporation and Tax authorities. Sanjana advises, “It’s the responsibility of the pet parent to make sure that if they choose to buy a dog, they don’t go to a puppy mill just because they are sold cheaper. They are cheaper because the breeding process is not done the right way. Also, one should be aware when animal shelters charge you more for an unsterilised breed dog than a mixed breed or an Indian breed dog.”