Re: Price of dogs
This is my view.
The people who would like to help a rescue dog have mostly been unable to this year.
Earlier in the year, the rescues all had to close their gates to the public. They had dogs crying out for homes, but they were not allowed to let the public in to look round. Neither were they allowed to go to houses and do home checks, so these animals were stuck where they were.
People being furloughed would not wait, so they bought from either dodgy newspaper ads, or dodgy online ads. A lot of these animals were poorly bred and raised, or even stolen.
People are advised over and over again to see the pup with it's mother, yet they still don't do this.
When our puppy farms finally sold out, they imported from their cronies in the foreign puppy farms.
Imagine what those youngsters went through being dragged from one hell-hole, then on a long cramped journey to yet another hell-hole.
Some didn't make it, others died within days of being sold.
I remember reading some reports of interviews given anonymously by some crooked foreign vets, admitting they made treble their income by forging pet passport information, saying the puppy is older than it was, and it had rabies jabs when it was really nowhere near old enough to have them.
Money talks, as my Dad used to say.
People still wanted more dogs, hence the massive rise in dog theft.
I read of a case where 37 stolen dogs were found tied up at one travellers site!
They are being stolen from gardens, cars, properties, and even snatched from lone and vulnerable people walking them.
Why should they object to a £100 fine if they are caught, when they can make many thousands on a litter?
Even so-called reputable breeders are upping their prices now too.
I don't know what I would do now if I wanted another one.
When I used to breed (in a small way), I could keep back the one I wanted for myself. It was heaven to have a dog who I had known since the minute he/she took her first breath, had always been loved, and I knew how it had been reared. Alas, my girls are all spayed now, so I don't know where I would go anymore.