The excitement of getting a new puppy often clouds people’s judgement, and unethical breeders and scammers take advantage of this emotional moment. But think carefully before you commit yourself to a specific puppy. First make sure that you can take care of the dog for the next 12 to 15 years. Then, ensure that you don’t fall prey to scammers, puppy farms or unethical breeders.
Backyard breeders
This group of breeders often start off as accidental breeders who had an unspayed female dog who fell pregnant. They often give the puppies away for free, or very cheaply, and usually don’t bother to find out where the puppies are going. Then, somewhere along the way, they realise that this can make them money, and then they get a ‘purebred’ pair of dogs, who may not even be registered.
Backyard breeders have no conscience and will continue to breed with the pair without monitoring their health and, therefore, pass on the same health issues – making the faulty gene pool bigger and bigger.
These breeders don’t educate the puppy buyers, and don’t expect them to sterilise their puppies either.
Puppy farmers
These breeders also have no conscience, and will focus on the money and how many puppies they can breed. They will often breed more than one kind of dog, and don’t allow the bitches any resting periods between litters. In many cases, these breeders won’t allow you to see your puppy’s parents.
Scammers
These criminals prey on animal lovers. They will advertise pictures of the cutest puppies on social media. There are different modi operandi, but the basics remain the same. You need to pay a deposit to secure the puppy. They will normally state that there are many people who are interested in the puppy, and that you need to hurry.
Then, you either never hear from them again or they demand more money. They might say that they need money to transport the puppy to you or they may have another reason. If you ask them if you can see pictures of the pup’s parents, they might refuse, have a lame story or send you pictures of more bogus animals. They will seldom send you a video of the puppies and their parents. If they do, it often takes days before they send it.
These are all typical signs that there is no puppy to be sold in the first place. If they do have a puppy, he may have been stolen and they’re trying very hard to sell him as quickly as possible.
Bottom line
If a breeder doesn’t ask you a whole lot of questions to determine why you want a puppy and whether you’ll be a responsible pet owner, doesn’t sign a contract or doesn’t allow you to see the dam and sire, then they might not be a reputable one.
