Pet shops

Should we really be able to buy live animals over the counter in a shop?!

Pet shops are the best place to buy a wide range of equipment and food for pets.

BUT they are not the place to buy animals!

FACT: There are too many animals and not enough homes.

Unfortunately, pet shops and breeders make this problem worse by supplying more animals into an already oversupplied world. If you truly care about animal welfare it doesn’t make sense to buy one from a pet shop or breeder as this worsens the problem of over supply of animals.

Our view and that of most animal welfare organisations is that pet shops should be for selling pet food and equipment and not for selling live animals.
A shop does not have the right facilities or staff with the expertise to house and look after a large variety of birds, exotics, small animals and very young animals like puppies and kittens. As with most other shops they shut up at night leaving vulnerable young animals alone for hours. Most staff are hired as shop assistants and have very little experience in animal care.

Supply of animals far exceeds demand and sadly, thousands of animals are euthanased just because they don’t have a home.

The biggest crisis that faces animal welfare is that there are thousands of animals sitting in cages in animal rescue homes leading a pointless existence or being euthanased for lack of a home, and the numbers are growing daily

Many pet shops buy their animals from puppy farms where they are intensively bred in order to supply commercial dealers. Puppy farming is immensely cruel and results in much suffering. Female dogs are kept and treated like breeding machines – they don’t live long and most often die of exhaustion or are abandoned when they can no longer produce large litters. The BBCs’ Inside Out highlighted the problem in their programme puppy farm exposed.

The animals are often confined in cages stacked on top of each other and the puppies are frequently taken at an early age from the mothers – this causing many problems, not least socializing and adjustment difficulties. Animal welfare organizations are trying to put a stop to this and the public can also help out law puppy farms and support the prevention of puppy farms
Puppy farmers also sell puppies through the internet and newspapers; remember that if you do buy an animal from pet shop or through a newspaper advert, you will not get the support and after care that you will receive from a rescue centre and you may be supporting the cruel business of puppy farming.

Be aware that puppies from puppy farms can be Kennel Club registered. Registration at the Kennel Club is not necessarily a sign of good husbandry or well cared for animals.

Adopting from an animal rescue centre or breed rescue organization will mean saving an animals life. Along with neutering, this is one of the ways to lessen the over supply of animals.

top of page pet shops