The problem with boycotting pet shop puppies

Not so long ago, before the atrocities of the live cattle export industry were brought to light, the RSPCA ran a campaign to raise awareness of the terrible conditions dogs have to endure on many puppy farms. Although the most important part of the RSPCA's campaign was a push for legislative change, so as to better be able to regulate the puppy farms and improve the living conditions of the dogs there, the aspect that was highlighted most by the media was that people should not buy a puppy from a pet shop, and rescue a dog from the RSPCA instead. On the face of it, that seems logical: reduced demand for pet shop dogs should result in fewer puppies "produced" on puppy farms.

The problem with this is that, unlike the eggs of caged hens on the supermarket shelf for example, the puppies you see in the pet shop window today are living breathing creatures who don't go away just because they aren't bought by anyone. The longer they stay in that pet shop window, the more likely they are to end up with problems due to their vanishing window for socialisation, not to mention the fact that living in a pet shop window is not a particularly pleasant experience in the first place.

Someone falls in love with that puppy in the pet shop window. But they have been convinced it's wrong to buy a puppy from a pet shop, as they would be supporting puppy farms that way. So they don't. Seven months later, they go to the RSPCA to do the right thing. They adopt a puppy, around nine months old, who is fearful of children and cars, and not house trained. They put in a lot of work and money to help this pup become comfortable in the world. They have done the right thing - but it's the same puppy.

From the perspective of the puppies who are already here, it is much better to be bought quickly. Much has been made of the mental and physical issues puppy farm puppies have. I doubt that there is any data backing this up, at least on the mental side. The biggest impact on a dog's mental health is their experience of the world in their first few months of life. The biggest disaster for those pups in the pet shop is to stay in that window until their best socialisation period is past. This is much more likely to contribute to them ending up at the RSPCA, than the fact that they came from a puppy farm.

It is our moral obligation to reduce the suffering of animals in our power. Whether purebred or crossbred, dogs should be bred in a way that ensures their well being. But let's not make the innocent victims of the existing system, the puppies who are here now, suffer to achieve this end.

We need to continue to push for a change to regulations of puppy farms. Voice our concerns to pet shop owners. Support the RSPCA. But apart from that, given that there is unfortunately no way of just closing down all puppy farms and find homes for all puppies and their parents in one fell swoop, we must educate existing and prospective dog owners about dogs - their needs, how to bond and how to train - as much as possible. I believe that once someone wants to buy a puppy, they will buy one, sooner or later. If there is no other choice, they will go to a pet shop. Not everyone wants a pure bred dog. Not all breeders of pure bred dogs necessarily do the right thing by their dogs either, even when they are registered. Adopting a dog with a poor socialisation and training history from the RSPCA requires even more knowledge and time than bringing up a puppy. So currently, for many people there is no other choice but the pet shop. Educating the owners, ideally in the pet shops (and at the breeder), about how to bring up their puppy in a gentle way, might just be the only thing we can do to help, as best we can, those dogs that are already here.