Puppy farm advert?

Saw this advert listed under “DOGS” in this week’s edition of my local paper, the Fenland Citizen:

GORGEOUS PUPPIES AVAILABLE NOW Westies, Cavaliers, Shitzus, Cockers (Blue Roan). Vet checked. First Vaccinations. Licenced Kennels. 01406 330120

There’s no indication of the seller’s name, so I searched for “01406330120″ on Google:

Very handsome Yorkshire Terrier puppy. We Have 1 Absolutely, In …
www.friday-ad.co.uk › … › Pets ads › Dogs & Puppies ›Yorkshire Terrier26 Aug 2011 – … Had His 1st Set Of Vaccinations Done With Vets Certificate. We Are Licenced Breeding Kennels. 01406330120. Price: £300. bargainsIco.png …

Blenheim Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppies. We, In the UK …
www.friday-ad.co.uk › … › Dogs & Puppies › King Charles Spaniel14 Jul 2011 – They Are Very Friendly, Sweet Puppies And Should Make Wonderful Pets. We Are Licenced Breeding Kennels. 01406330120. Price: £400 …

West Highland Terrier pups ready soon. We Have A Beautiful, In the …
www.friday-ad.co.uk › … › Dogs & Puppies › West Highland Terrier14 Jul 2011 – The Males Are £450, The Females £500. We Are Licenced Breeding Kennels. 01406330120. Price: £450. bargainsIco.png. Flag as bargain …

Gorgeous Male Yorkshire Terrier Puppies. For Sale | Pets Market
www.petsmarket.co.uk/pet-details?petid=445926 Jul 2011 – … puppies come with pedigree, diet info. and vaccination certificate plus food to take home. We are Licenced Breeding Kennels. 01406330120 …

2 gorgeous male puppies still for sale :: Dogs and Puppies
archive.dogsandpuppies.co.uk/2_gorgeous_male_puppies…/7317201406330120. Category: West Highland Terrier. Registration details. This ad is no longer available, the latest ads for West Highland Terrier can be found below. …

Also listed, is a directory entry which gives the name of the kennel:

Windrush Lodge Kennels, Oxcroft Bank, Shepeau Stow, Whaplode …
m.118.com/a/7320/mapWindrush Lodge Kennels. Oxcroft Bank, Shepeau Stow, Whaplode Drove Spalding Lincolnshire PE12 0TY UK. 01406330120 · Download contact details (vCard) …

A search on Windrush Lodge Kennels turns up several entries, the first of which is this entry in a breeders’ directory.

Windrush Lodge Kennels – Breedersonline

“We are a family run kennels since 1987, we breed various breeds of dogs, all puppies sold are vet checked, have first innoculations done, wormed by vet and ourselves.We try to be as helpful as we can to purchasers of our puppies, providing diet info, care details and sample of food for puppies if required.We are appointment only. We have other breeds available occasionally. Border Terriers, Toy Poodles, Yorkshire Terriers.We have breeding and pet shop licences which have been held for very many years. We have own studs, all have wonderful temperments.”

Then I find a forum posting which strongly condemns not only Windrush Lodge Kennels but also a vet who (allegedly) is/was involved with them -

“Have you heard of ‘windrush lodge kennels’ just outside Holbeach? They advertise in most local papers. They are puppy farmers and dog dealers who buy whole litters off the Welsh, Scottish and Irish puppy farmers. Pengelly and Mizen were (not sure if they still are) the vets who would inspect the puppies, pass them as fit for sale, and vaccinate them. I am involved in rescue and have taken many dogs which originated from these kennels and the innoculation cards all bear the stamp of ‘pengelly and mizen’They make a nice living out of vaccinating the many hundreds of poor puppy farm bred pups which get sold through this kennels and probably other Peterborough based puppy farms too since not many vets want to be associated with the filthy trade.”

I can’t confirm these allegations – but nor do I have any reason to disbelieve them.

All I can say with any confidence is that puppy farmers sell multiple litters by placing multiple adverts. Enough said.

These sort of adverts appear every day, all over the UK (and many places worldwide) and the puppy farmers stay in business simply because people respond to the ads.

Puppy farms are miserable hell-holes where breeding bitches are kept in terrible conditions and used time and time again. The puppies they produce are often sickly and die horribly within a few days or weeks of being bought.

If you see an advert which arouses your suspicions, don’t respond to it. Move on. If everybody did the same, the puppy farmers would soon be out of business.