CONTENTS

politics first | Features
September / October 2016 | www.politicsfirst.org.uk
Puppy farming: how to end this
terrible form of animal abuse
South Korea’s bloody shame:
its dog meat industry
Marc
Abraham
BVM&S
MRCVS,
Television Vet and
Founder of PupAid
© Sarah Bardsley
Peter
Egan,
a Patron of the
All-Party Parliament
Group for Animal
Welfare and a
former star of
Downton Abbey
© Maria Slough photography
Puppy farming usually refers to volume breeding of dogs where profit
is prioritised over welfare. It commonly relies on networks of sellers
and dealers - licensed pet shops, high street, private dwellings and
online advertisers - designed to ensure prospective puppy buyers
never see the environment which their pup was born in. That is a
perfectly legal practice whereby the breeding conditions and
transportation methods of pups to their point of sale are often far
below adequate. Unsurprisingly, that is not only detrimental to the
puppy’s health – both mentally and physically - but also the welfare
of its parents, and, of course, the new owner.
Countless studies, overwhelming scientific evidence and data, as
well as professional advice from vets, including the British Veterinary
Association, together with canine behaviourists, all support Government
advice for buyers to “always see the puppy with its mother.”
So why then, in 2016, when we know so much about the complex
emotional needs of the developing puppy do we still have legislation
which allows, even encourages, puppies to be sold away from their
mums (the third party puppy trade)? Furthermore, in 2014, when
my own e-petition to ban third party puppy sales was debated in the
House of Commons, there was unanimous support from MPs across
the political divide attending.
Two years on - meeting with MPs in Portcullis House almost
every week – I have learned much about how Parliament works. As
a practicing veterinary surgeon, with no background in politics, it
continues to be an incredible learning curve and I am surprised at
some of the truths which I am uncovering.
It is no secret that Government listens to advice and direction
of certain individuals and organisations within sectors needing
improvement. Whilst some of those organisations support a ban,
others remain immovable, clearly failing to understand that the third
party puppy trade is the reason that the cruel puppy farming industry
in the UK and abroad continues to flourish.
Astonishingly, opponents of a ban argue that the trade would go
underground! That unsubstantiated scaremongering has no basis in
fact or evidence. Our research shows that puppy buyers genuinely
aspire to making ethical and responsible choices (The Great British
Puppy Survey 2016 Findings) and, ultimately, want to buy healthy,
happy family companions. The public does not, and would not,
actively seek out irresponsible or illegal puppy sellers.
The truth is that the very reason people are duped today by
unscrupulous sellers is that two pieces of archaic law permit this to
happen - 1951 Pet Animals Act and Breeding and Sale of Dogs Act
1999 - all while enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 is so
shamefully lacking.
Warnings of “fake mums” is yet another attempt to scaremonger,
rather than educate; it is not rocket science to know that a “show
bitch” placed with pups who are not hers will react very differently
than with their real mum.
So what other reason could there be for an organisation to oppose
a ban? Could, for example, a charity be concerned about a potential
restriction on their capacity to sell puppies for an adoption fee? One
would hope not, especially as an exemption for charities can easily
be added to legislation.
While some continue to go down a ‘licensing will solve
everything’ route, the truth is that lack of accountability is a primary
failing of the current licensing system. Anyone selling puppies as
family companions should have a legal duty to ensure, as far as
possible, that animals they produce are fit for that purpose. There
is no way that selling puppies through a third party can ever meet
that objective because it has an inherently negative impact on their
welfare which can never be neutralised by further regulation.
Welfare, traceability and accountability is most effectively
achieved by maintaining the shortest possible puppy supply chain
- direct from breeder to consumer. So, as part of a wider strategy,
one of the simplest solutions would be to actually open puppy farms
to the public, making their operations transparent. Let our animalloving
public scrutinise those establishments up close and personal
throughout the year, instead of a once-yearly local authority
licensing inspection where things are cleaned up for a day. If these
places have nothing to hide, they have nothing to fear.
If stakeholders and legislators are genuinely serious about
ending the canine and human misery that results from low welfare
breeding practices and puppy dealing, then prohibiting the sale of
puppies by third party sellers is the only realistic way forward, so
that buyers can only purchase a pup that has been seen interacting
with its mum, or, better still, adopt from rescue, instead.
My involvement with animal welfare has changed my life completely.
Thirty years ago, I was, like many animal lovers, completely oblivious
to the continual cruelty imposed on the animal kingdom by the most
destructive predator on our planet: the human species.
The destruction that the human species inflicts on animals is
extraordinary - and all because we feel we have the right to do so. Either
because we get fun from killing them or because we believe they have
a place on our plate, or that boiling, beating and condensing them into
a liquid and then swallowing their lives in this form will improve our
sex performance or strengthen our wobbly joints. The lives of animals
belong to us and we can do with them as we please. We are shocking in
our ability to allow those appalling practices to happen.
An example of that is South Korea, where they have let one of the
planet’s greatest companion animals be reduced to nothing more than a
piece of meat – and I am talking about South Korea’s dog meat industry.
South Korea is the only country in the world known to have
established intensive dog breeding farms throughout the peninsula
to supply the demand for dog meat and associated products,
ranging from small backyard enterprises housing approximately
20 dogs, to large-scale facilities housing thousands of dogs. The
conditions on those farms are pitiful, and throughout their short
lives, the dogs are never shown anything but brutality, and an
absolute indifference to their sentience.
Further compounding the issue in South Korea is the dual perception
of dogs that has emerged, where there is a widely held view that there are
two ‘types’ of dogs: meat dogs, consisting of the tosa mix and yellow
dogs, for human consumption, and pet dogs, consisting of breeds of
dogs (such as labradors, poodles and huskies), for companionship.
Those categorised as meat dogs are widely perceived to be dirty,
stupid and soulless in South Korea. That perception has resulted in them
being considered and treated with little consideration, protection or
value. The view is reflected in legislation and by the attitudes of industry,
public and government, and continues to secure support for the dog
meat industry even by those who do not eat dog meat themselves.
However, the reality is that the pet dog and meat dog industries are
one and the same, and, ultimately, the fate of any dog in South Korea
depends on where the greatest profits can be made, and it is common
to see many different breeds of dogs at markets and on dog farms, often
still wearing collars, a sign of their former status as a pet dog.
The dog meat industry is largely seasonal in South Korea, and
dog meat is particularly popular during the summer months and over
the boknal days - the three hottest days of the lunar calendar - when
bosintang (invigorating soup) is favoured, as it is believed to improve
stamina and virility during the hot and humid summer months. During
those months - late May to August – approximately 80 per cent of dog
meat is consumed, even by those who never eat dog meat at any other
time of the year. Live dogs and dog meat are sold in markets throughout
South Korea, and boshintang (invigorating soup) is served in over
3,500 restaurants nationwide. Gaesoju (dog tonic) is sold in boshinwon
(nutritional or body health shops) throughout the peninsula, and, like
bosintang, is widely-believed to hold medicinal properties
It is estimated that 2.5-3 million dogs were slaughtered for
human consumption in South Korea in 2014, raised on one of over
17,000 farms located throughout the country, and supplemented
from the pet and fighting dog industries.
Regardless of their origin or breed, the cruelty of the industry is the
same. The dogs are usually kept in small, barren cages, with little or no
protection from South Korea’s sweltering summers or freezing winters,
isolated in battery cages or caged in small groups, sometimes tethered.
The dogs are usually fed the dismembered parts of other animals and
human food waste, with evidence of some farmers feeding dead dogs
to live dogs. Their existence is one of fear, boredom, frustration, hunger
and disease. Veterinary care is non-existent, with farmers resorting to the
indiscriminate misuse of antibiotics and other drugs to keep the dogs
alive long enough to reach market value.
There is to be a debate at Westminster Hall on Monday September
12 th . It will be led by Oliver Dowden MP, with the motion being: “That
this house has considered e-petition 120702 relating to South Korea
and the dog meat trade.”
With the Winter Olympics taking place in South Korea in 2018, I
urge every MP, who has a shred of compassion in them, to attend that
debate and hear the facts about a trade which shames a great nation
like South Korea and betrays those wonderful Koreans who want no
part of this disgusting trade.
I am proud to be a Patron of the All-Party Parliament Group for
Animal Welfare, and I look forward to attending the debate. I hope to
see you there.
104
105