As part of their commitment to public education about the cruelty of battery puppy farming in the U.K. and the untold personal heartbreak members of the public are letting themselves in for if they willingly or unwittingly purchase a puppy that has come from a puppy farm, C.A.R.I.A.D. (Care And Respect Includes All Dogs) is launching a unique event in the history of the U.K..

 

The event, timed to coincide with world Puppy Farm Awareness Day is called “7 Days”. It is being broadcast live over 7 days, 24 hours a day and has already had agreement from animal welfare organisations in Australia, the United States, Canada and Europe to participate.

“7 Days” is unusual in that instead of seeing images of dogs suffering, it will show a human living in the environment and isolation experienced by thousands of breeding dogs in the UK right now.

C.A.R.I.A.D. Founder, Linda Goodman explains: “The situation for dogs in the U.K. is now desperate. Our rescue shelters are at breaking point because people are abandoning their ‘much loved’ pets in greater numbers than ever before. At the same time tens of thousands of puppies are being bred in squalid battery farms, the majority of which are in Wales and Ireland and trafficked across the UK in vans and trucks into pet shops and via free ads on the internet to a market that simply cannot sustain them.

“These are not puppies that have been bred to live long and happy lives. Due to intensive inbreeding they often carry shocking hereditary conditions and genetic problems that will mean many die within weeks or months after being purchased. We’ve found that some of these puppies have been taken away from their mothers as early as just 4 weeks old. These puppies are not brought up in socialised conditions that are a basic requirement for an emotionally and psychologically well balanced family pet. As a result many suffer from behavioural issues and will end up abandoned, further adding to the burden of council pounds and rescue shelters. If they do survive to adulthood they are most likely to need costly vet treatment for the rest of their lives. 

“If this isn’t bad enough, the situation is even worse for the parents of these puppies – the breeding dogs. They are forced to endure a life of imprisonment in highly unsuitable and sometimes barbaric accommodation such as cages, sheds, caravans, barns, garages, cellars or disused lorry containers. Shut inside, often 24 hours a day with no access to daylight, exercise or companionship. They’re often left without access to clean water or food, with nonexistent or unsuitable bedding like straw or sawdust, and exist in confined spaces covered in urine and excrement which result in painful eye injuries and ear infections, terrible skin conditions and painfully matted fur. It’s an outrage that countries like the UK, considered to be a civilized nation, allow this to continue. There can be no justification for the volume breeding of domestic companion animals, ‘farmed’ with less regard than agricultural livestock.

“Organisations have been trying to educate the public for years about puppy farming. But still the public continue to be taken in by scammers on the internet who pose as private families selling home-bred puppies, when in fact they are being taken in by cynical, heartless puppy dealers and the puppies have come from hundreds of miles away in battery farms. Or worse, people are still actually buying puppies in pet shops! Time and again they are told that good breeders never sell their puppies to pet shops. And that these puppies come from puppy farms and back yard breeders. The fact that puppy farming and the sale of puppies in pet shops is still even legal in the UK in the 21st century beggars belief.



Why a human occupant?

“People have told us in their masses that they can’t bear to see images of dogs suffering so they turn away. They have told us that they won’t put themselves through the emotional distress of watching documentaries about it either. So if people don’t or won’t look at the facts, educating them becomes an enormous obstacle.

“This event is designed to counter those emotional objections. Now the general public can learn the truth about puppy farming without seeing any animals in distress. This time hopefully they can empathise with it from a human perspective and finally accept that if they are not prepared to be part of the solution, they are in fact part of the problem. And as such accomplices to mass animal cruelty.”

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Why a live webcast?​

“No organisation has the money to make a television commercial to get the message out en mass to the public. This is the next best thing - a 24/7 live TV commercial via the internet, taking the tried and trusted medium of reality TV that the nation seems to respond to.

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Why 7 days?​

“We decided to hold the event over 7 days with 1 day representing each year these breeding dogs are kept imprisoned on average.”

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Who is going to be the occupant and why were they chosen?​

“I will be the occupant. At 50, I am now the human equivalent age of a breeding bitch coming to the end of her usefulness to a puppy farmer. At this point if I was lucky I may be surrendered to a reputable rescue, rehabilitated and given a home to spend what’s left of my life in peace and dignity, finally knowing the kindness of humans. But sadly, often I would be killed. Not euthanized by a vet because that would cost money. I would be shot, drowned or abandoned in the middle of nowhere to starve to death. That’s the shocking and brutal reality behind the cute puppies people are buying in pet shops and on the internet.  Just as these breeding dogs are in poor health to begin with, I too suffer from a number of serious genetic and hereditary health complications including a heart condition. So I feel a huge empathy with these dogs although the difference is that I do have my freedom and I do have access to medical treatment which these poor dogs do not.”

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What are the aims of the event? ​

“The primary aim is very simple. We want people to stop buying puppies from pet shops and internet sellers. If they can just do those two simple things, puppy farmers would cease to have a market. There are thousands of beautiful dogs languishing in rescues who desperately need the chance of a safe and loving home. If people want to have a canine companion, we urge them to consider this more ethical and humane option. The secondary aim is to make politicians and those in other positions of authority in the pet industry understand that the Animal Welfare Act as it stands is not being enforced by anyone. The RSPCA don’t have the power to enforce it and Councils are not required to enforce it, or are simply unwilling or unable to due to staff shortages. The Animal Welfare Act is at present a worthless document. Even when cruelty is uncovered, the public have to rely on a charity to foot the bill for taking someone to court. And then due to the costs involved it’s only a magistrate’s court where the penalties are lenient. The Government needs to take its responsibility for animal welfare seriously and fund crown court prosecutions as a deterrent for animal abuse. It must stop relying on a charity, and therefore, the taxpayer via donations, to foot the bill for holding people account for breaking animal welfare laws. After all, when it comes to puppy farming, it was the Government in the early 80’s who created this situation in the first place with grants to dairy farmers to ‘diversify’ as a result of milk quotas, which is how puppy farming got its name. Through the actions of a government to keep farmers happy, but that gave no thought to how this would affect the welfare of the dogs, the UK is now in this intolerable situation. So it’s up to a government, this government to put things right. Education alone is not enough to redress this situation now because it is completely out of control. It requires a dramatic change in the law. A law that, at present, does nothing to protect animals in the UK.”



 

Why is the event global?

“Puppy farming, puppy mills, factory farming, battery farming – these are all terms used to describe the same thing in different countries. The overpopulation of dogs and the indiscriminate breeding of puppies is endemic in the western world. This event is being made available to all countries where organisations like C.A.R.I.A.D. are campaigning tirelessly for changes in public attitude and changes to the law. It has taken a lot of organisation to make this event happen. It’s a one of a kind. And it’s here to be used for the benefit of all those, wherever they are, who want a fairer and more just world for domestic companion animals. Man has spent thousands of years domesticating dogs to be our best friends. Their trust in us and their loyalty to us deserves so much better. We must be their guardians.”

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For information about this release or the 7 DAYS Event, please email cariad7daysevent@live.co.uk
For more information about C.A.R.I.A.D. please visit www.cariadcampaign.co.uk