Ethical Dog Buyer’s Guide
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When it’s time to bring a new furry member into your family, there’s lots of things to consider. Food, toys, training - but most importantly, ensuring your new best friend isn’t from a puppy factory. Here’s how.
Make adoption your first option.
If you want to get a dog or puppy ethically, adoption is always the best option. Choosing adoption means you won’t be supporting cruel puppy factories, but you will also be saving a life!
Rescuing a dog from a pound, shelter or rescue group also means you are making space for another dog to take their place (two lives saved!).
While puppies are fun, adult and senior dogs also make sweet companions, too. They often come house-trained and know all the rules from their previous home, which is an added bonus.
Tip: Be patient! Hundreds of dogs and puppies are made available for adoption every single day. So if you don’t see your perfect companion on your first look, don’t give up. The right dog for you will turn up soon.
Finding a breeder.
If adoption isn’t for you, it’s important to find an ethical breeder. Social media and flashy websites have made it very easy for puppy factories to look ethical, so it’s important to be vigilant.
Remember: While our intuition is always to help animals in need, buying a puppy from a puppy farm is not rescuing the dog. If you come across a questionable breeder, report them to the RSPCA and lodge an anonymous tip off to us here.
Tip: Mixed breed puppies with fun names like 'cavoodle', 'labradoodle' and similar are more often than not bred and raised in puppy farms, even if they are not from a pet shop. Some pure bred puppies such as frenchies and toy poodles, which are very popular with buyers are also often bred for profit in puppy factories.
Make sure you always:
- Meet the mother and father of your puppy;
- Visit where they were born (more than once if possible);
- See the pup interacting with its mum and litter mates and;
- Check the breeder is registered.
Tip: There’s a big difference between a breeder that is registered with council as a domestic animal business (registered puppy farm) and a breeder registered with the Australian National Kennel Council (ANKC). Make sure you check. However being a 'registered ANKC breeder' doesn't always mean the breeder is ethical or humane. Unfortunately some of the large puppy factory raids in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland have actually turned out to be registered ANKC breeders. This is why it is so important to visit the place where the pup is born and raised and see the pup interacting with its mum and litter mates.
Still not sure? Contact us and we can help you out.
Never, ever ...
- Buy a puppy from someone who wants to meet you at a checkpoint;
- Have a puppy flown to you without seeing where they came from or;
- Get a puppy from a pet store.
end puppy factories