With catfishing being legitimised as a word in the Oxford English dictionary, recently we have seen a development of this in the animal world with owners being misled by devious sellers when purchasing their pet.
Lucy's Law
In response to the increase in sales of puppies and kitties from farms, the government introduced Lucy's Law in April. The law criminalises third-party sales of puppies and kitties from these farms and means if you're looking to buy or adopt a kitten or puppy under six months old, you need to deal directly with the breeder or rehoming centre.
Petfishing Campaign
As a further result of brits purchasing from puppy farms, the sellers aren't always completely honest with the pet they are selling. The government has further shown their support of a new campaign introduced by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Areas (Defra) called 'Petfishing.' The charity is supported by a range of animal welfare charities including, Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, Dogs Trust and the RSPCA.
The campaign hopes to educate potential owners about purchasing from dishonest sellers. The public is being encouraged to use the acronym S.P.O.T when encountering a potential seller.
Seller
Put the seller’s name and phone number into a search engine – avoid those with multiple adverts.
Parent
Make sure you see puppies and kittens in their home with their mother.
Old enough
Check puppies and kittens are at least 8 weeks old before you take them home.
Treatment
Ask to see the animal’s health records and avoid sellers who can’t provide them.
'These puppies usually have a cocktail of diseases which can sometimes be passed onto their owners.'
The RSPCA and BSAVA have reported that they are dealing with ongoing cases where owners have been sold sick puppies and kittens as a result of new owners not researching sellers before buying their new pet.
Head of Public Affairs for the RSPCA, David Bowles said: "In June, July, and August we saw the highest level of imports coming in from Romania and other central European countries and that was entirely to satisfy the huge spike in demand from the public for puppies during that time. People wanted companionship at home during the lockdown."
Watch David explain the complications of buying from puppy farms here.
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