24
Nov
Nov
Angry Dog Lovers Target World-Famous Department Store
A coalition of anti puppy farming groups will be staging a protest over the sale of puppies at world-famous store, Harrods on Saturday 4th December 2010. A petition will be given to Harrods during the protest.
Mandy Dumont, a spokesperson for the campaign said: “Harrods are a high profile store and should set an example by stopping the sale of puppies immediately. The vast majority of pet shop puppies are from puppy farms who only breed for money with no thought to the welfare and health of the puppy, its parents or the buyers. Puppy farms often have appalling conditions & lack of welfare, no checks for hereditary diseases and no socialisation. Parents suffer for years and are then discarded once they can no longer breed.”
TV vet and anti puppy farming supporter Joe Inglis says “Puppy farming is an abuse of our loyal canine companions who deserve to be brought up in healthy and loving environments, and I wholeheartedly support Puppy Love's campaign aim to bring an end to the suffering puppy farms cause.”
Matty Mitford, a supporter of the protest says: “Rescues are overflowing and thousands of dogs are being put down every year due to lack of homes. Anyone considering themselves a dog lover should look to an established rescue centre for a dog. Otherwise they should go to a reputable breeder who will have performed all the relevant health checks for their breed and where they can see the mother with the puppies. The breeder should ask a lot questions and offer lifetime back up for all the dogs that they breed. If not, walk away. Dogs bought from shops can never have this level of support and care and it is deeply unfair to the defenceless animals who depend on us for their welfare for them to be sold in this way ”
Links of Interest: [1] Coalition partners include Puppy Love (www.puppylovecampaigns.org), SPEC, (www.stoppuppyfarming.com), Dogpages (www.dogpages.org.uk)
[2] http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/harrods-stop-selling-puppies.html
[3] http://www.dogstrust.org.uk/az/b/batteryfarmeddogs/default.aspx
[4] http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/feb/03/puppy-farms-battery-dogs
[5] http://dogbloggers.com/puppyfarmnews/2008/07/04/think-about-adopting-an-ex-breeding-bitch/
[6] http://www.puppylovecampaigns.org/support.shtml
[7]http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2010/08_august/02/panorama.shtml
Mandy Dumont, a spokesperson for the campaign said: “Harrods are a high profile store and should set an example by stopping the sale of puppies immediately. The vast majority of pet shop puppies are from puppy farms who only breed for money with no thought to the welfare and health of the puppy, its parents or the buyers. Puppy farms often have appalling conditions & lack of welfare, no checks for hereditary diseases and no socialisation. Parents suffer for years and are then discarded once they can no longer breed.”
TV vet and anti puppy farming supporter Joe Inglis says “Puppy farming is an abuse of our loyal canine companions who deserve to be brought up in healthy and loving environments, and I wholeheartedly support Puppy Love's campaign aim to bring an end to the suffering puppy farms cause.”
Matty Mitford, a supporter of the protest says: “Rescues are overflowing and thousands of dogs are being put down every year due to lack of homes. Anyone considering themselves a dog lover should look to an established rescue centre for a dog. Otherwise they should go to a reputable breeder who will have performed all the relevant health checks for their breed and where they can see the mother with the puppies. The breeder should ask a lot questions and offer lifetime back up for all the dogs that they breed. If not, walk away. Dogs bought from shops can never have this level of support and care and it is deeply unfair to the defenceless animals who depend on us for their welfare for them to be sold in this way ”
Links of Interest: [1] Coalition partners include Puppy Love (www.puppylovecampaigns.org), SPEC, (www.stoppuppyfarming.com), Dogpages (www.dogpages.org.uk)
[2] http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/harrods-stop-selling-puppies.html
[3] http://www.dogstrust.org.uk/az/b/batteryfarmeddogs/default.aspx
[4] http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/feb/03/puppy-farms-battery-dogs
[5] http://dogbloggers.com/puppyfarmnews/2008/07/04/think-about-adopting-an-ex-breeding-bitch/
[6] http://www.puppylovecampaigns.org/support.shtml
[7]http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2010/08_august/02/panorama.shtml
[...] Angry Dog Lovers Target World-Famous Department StoreDog Magazine dot netThe vast majority of pet shop puppies are from puppy farms who only breed for money with no thought to the welfare and health of the puppy, its parents or … [...]
I AM SO PLEASED ABOUT THIS – I WENT TO HARRODS 2 WKS AGO FOR THE FIRST TIME AND I WAS TOTALLY SHOCKED WHEN I WENT TO THE PET SECTION AND FOUND THEM SELLING PUPPIES.
THERE WERE BULLDOG PUPPIES @ £4,000.00 EACH AND ALSO POODLE PUPPIES @ £1500 EACH
TOALLY DISGUSTING- THEY ARE JUST OUT TO MAKE PROFITS NOT THINKING OF THE ANIMALS AT ALL
Good Luck Mandy sorry won’t be there just too far and snow forecast. You have my full support as you know..
Dear K9 Magazine readers,
Harrods has been in contact with Ms Dumont in order to explain our policy in very clear terms. We strongly object to any insinuation that we use “puppy farms” referred to in Ms Dumont’s statement.
We would like to take this opportunity to reassure you of the high standards of care and attention that are maintained via a strict policy regarding the sale of pets from the Pet Shop at Harrods. We have detailed these as much as possible here, but please do contact customer care at +44 (0) 20 7730 1234 should you require any further details.
The Pet Kingdom at Harrods is a much loved destination within the store which attracts thousands of loyal visitors everyday. Harrods works closely with the Kennel Club and numerous animal welfare charities to ensure that we sell livestock in the most responsible way that we can.
You can not walk into the Pet Shop and purchase a dog or cat on a whim. We want our animals to go to only the most responsible and loving homes, so in order to purchase an animal from Pet Kingdom a customer has to undergo an interview carried out by one of our trained livestock handlers. They must also have a veterinary reference or a professional reference and a copy of a tenant’s agreement if appropriate. We will also invite the potential customer to bring all of their family to the interview (this may include pets) so that we can assess how they all interact.
At Pet Kingdom we have the highest quality of animals and we are very meticulous in researching their background. All of our breeders are reputable and breed their animals in a home environment.
Full background checks are undertaken, breeding records are reviewed to ensure there is no under/inter breeding, kennel registration is verified and home visits are arranged to ensure that they are maintaining impeccable standards and breeding animals which are healthy, happy, socialised and suitable for Harrods customers.
Each puppy and kitten will have
• Pedigree registration ( with at least 3 generations of pedigree)
• Vaccination certificate
• Micro-chip
• Two veterinary certificates of health from both the breeders and Harrods veterinary surgeon
• Details of flea and worm treatments
• Breeders contact details
If for some reason the animal does not fit well into the home environment then we will accept the animal back.
At Harrods we strive to achieve outstanding standards for all of our animals. We currently have 3 full time highly qualified livestock handlers and a qualified veterinary nurse and their sole job is to care for all of our animals at all times.
It is very important that all of our animals follow a daily routine and this is carefully organised to prevent any stress.
A routine is devised to ensure that all animals have enough sleep, food, socialising, stimulation and TLC.
Each one of our animals in Pet Kingdom has been placed in an enclosure which has been specifically designed for their breed requirements. All enclosures are thoroughly and carefully cleaned in the morning and evening and maintained throughout the day to the highest standards.
During the day the livestock handlers take care of the animals and during the night the animals are checked every 30 minutes by Harrods security officers.
The friendly livestock handlers exercise, play, handle and groom all of our animals on an hourly basis. This will develop the animals social and behavioural skills ready for adult hood, as at this stage in a young animals life it is critical to obtain these skills.
We also have a private exercise area for our animals to give them time to relax away from the public.
Harrods supports more than 35 animal welfare charities including The Retired Greyhound Trust, Hearing dogs for deaf people, Friends of Animals League and has help to raise thousands of pounds in the past year.
Many thanks
Harrods
Harrods has a moral obligation to set an example ahead of profit. If children are in desperate need of a puppy for Xmas then go to an animal shelter or reputable dog breeder. Hopefully 6 weeks after Xmas pets won’t be discarded because they are too much work.
No responsible, ethical, caring breeder would sell their puppies to a pet shop. They would not put their puppies through the stress involved and they would want to check the new owners themselves. They would also offer lifetime back up for the dog. Responsible puppy buyers who had done their research would not buy from a pet shop.
@ Harrods
Do you actually pay any attention to people who post? That response is identical to one posted on a forum I read the other day. It DOES NOT address the fact that most puppies for sale in pet shops are puppy farmed, nor the bleak, dire conditions in which the puppies parents live EVERY day. By selling puppies (the cash crop of puppy farmers) the pet shops perpetuate the malpractise and the misery for the parents.
The people who protest and campaign against pet shops selling puppies have many years of investigation under their belts, they are intelligent, caring people who are well aware of how puppies are bred – your post insults them as well as the intelligence of your customers!
Whoever at Harrods wrote this response is clearly totally ignorant of dogs and dog breeding or to put it another way, an ignoramus. You cannot have a pedigree for any dog that is an amalgamation of two recognised breeds, no matter what the breeder chooses to label them, they are in a true sense a mongrel (bless them all). KC papers can only be issued for a true breed recognised by the KC, no cross breeds are! Drivel, utter drivel.
The KC is not a dog welfare organisation but a private members club and there are many recorded reports of animal welfare prosecutions against KC registered breeders.
Anyone who sells commercially multi breeds & cross breeds to dealers and pet shops is by my definition a Puppy Farmer and the conditions in these Commercial farms is not condusive to the breeding of companion animals. Good breeders of dogs have no need to sell to pet shops, they all have waiting lists or sell through their breed clubs. Shame on you Harrods.
They also say that customers have been buying there for many generations…yes we know that………they were selling pups from puppy farms for much of that time and that is indisputable.
@ Harrods
Quote: “Harrods works closely with the Kennel Club and numerous animal welfare charities to ensure that we sell livestock in the most responsible way that we can.”
How can you possibly make this statement when a quick search of the internet come up with items such as these –
Dogs Trust http://www.dogstrust.org.uk/az/b/buyingadog/ :
• NEVER buy from a pet shop
Kennel Club general code of ethics http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/item/288 :
[Breeders/Owners] 13. Will not sell any dog to commercial dog wholesalers, retail pet dealers ……..
By selling puppies through a pet shop Harrods goes against everything caring reputable dog people are striving for.
ps.
Can you please clarify what you mean when you state “breeding records are reviewed to ensure there is no under/inter breeding” – I understand the ‘inter breeding’ part but what do you mean by saying ‘under breeding’??
Unfortunately Jan Gilmour is wrong regarding their understanding of the word pedigree.
A pedigree is simply a record of the known individuals behind an animal. Whether a dog qualifies for registration with the KC or not, if both parents can be identified as individuals, regardless of whether they are the same breed, the puppies have a pedigree.
Bearing in mind many purposeful cross breeds, lurchers and guide dogs for example, have very detailed pedigees it is clearly wrong to suggest Harrods are being ignorant in this matter.
Whilst not supporting Harrods in any way I think it is important that we are not caught out hurling inaccurate insults as this does not help the reasoned arguement against selling puppies through a third party.
[...] Dec, when a petition will also be handed to the store manager. You can find out more information here. Just goes to show the power of canine campaigners, no matter how big you [...]