Documentary reveals the shocking cruelty of puppy farms to meet the growing demand for designer dogs
Bitches are being treated worse than battery-hens and produce unhealthy puppies that are taken away from them at four-weeks-old
A HARROWING new documentary has exposed the horrific way dogs are being treated in puppy farms to meet the growing demand for must-have breeds.
Bitches are being treated worse than battery-hens and produce unhealthy puppies that are taken away from them at four-weeks-old.
Tragically, the puppies often die within six months.
The BBC Three documentary reveals that often owners have no idea of the appalling way in which their beloved pet was brought into the world.
And social media is being blamed for the rise in demand for 'designer' dog breeds including pugs, French bulldogs and dachshunds, with many celebrities flaunting their miniature dogs on their Instagram accounts.
Popular vloggers Alfie Deyes and Zoella own a pug, as does actress Jessica Alba, while another famous vlogger, Tanya Burr, has a miniature dachshund and socialite Paris Hilton is famous for taking her tiny chihuahuas everywhere in her designer handbags.
But there is a heavy price to pay to have one of the designer dogs.
Speaking to Grace Victory for a BBC Three documentary, a customs officer involved in the crack down on the puppy trade said most of the bitches used to breed the dogs will be put down after three or four years because they are exhausted and have no idea what a human being is.
He revealed how they are even given hormone injections to bring them into heat again so they can make more puppies.
He said: "This is big business. There are farms in Ireland where there will be bitches who do nothing but produce puppies all day.
"If they were being treated like this for food, we would be all over this in Ireland.
"Because they are not for the food industry they are neglected, Ireland is the production factory and the UK is the shop.
"These animals will live three or four years and then have to be put down as they are exhausted. They aren't treated any better than battery hens, they have no idea what human beings are, this is no way to treat man's best friend."
Some of the puppies produced this way will die on the journey to the UK because they haven't got strong enough immune systems and are weak and dehydrated.
According to the show, 70,000 puppies were imported into UK last year, with 40,000 of those from coming Ireland.
Chief inspector Ian Briggs from the RSPCA's special operations unit
He said the charity is always investigating millions of pounds worth of dogs being trafficked into the UK and recounted a recent case in Manchester which led to the leaders of a puppy farming gang being jailed.
He said: "An estimated £1.2m worth of puppies were recovered - 95 in total - after a police raid of the home.
"We found puppies in buckets including a number of dead ones. It was a business based on the selling of sick dogs, it was cruelty on an industrial scale.
"They had thousands of dogs go through their house and many would get sick and die. They don't care, they are a commodity. They bring them in and sell them on as quickly as possible to make a profit."
Mr Briggs said the current maximum sentence for a crime such as this is six months and that is just isn't tough enough.
But the problems don't end at the puppy farm.
Many owners will find that after they have forked out the cash for their new designer pooch, they arrive beset with health problems and will require expensive vet treatment to survive and in some cases they die.
According the The Kennel Club, 20 per cent of puppies bought online dies within six months.
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Grace spoke to one such buyer, Hayley, who reveals on the documentary that she was one of the people duped when she bought a puggle after responding to an advert online.
She was left heartbroken when her puppy, Marley, died not long after she bought her.
She found her on an advert on Gumtree advertising a cute puggle, 11 weeks old from a family home.
She recalled: "The people seemed so genuine, they made it their jobs to make us feel at ease. I think it was a showhouse, they put things around to look like they live there but use it as a base of selling puppies.
"We got her home and we was begin with but after two weeks she went downhill due to an auto-immune disease. She didn't have all of the goodness from her mum and threw up food constantly."
Recounting how her puppy died, Hayley said: "She looked at me as if to say 'help me', took a breath and stopped breathing. She died in my arms."
Grace Victory presents The Cost of Cute: The Dark Side of the Puppy Trade. Available to watch on BBC Three's iPlayer channel from today (19th December)