Shocking new figures from the RSPCA reveal a huge spike in the number of calls about immoral and dangerous puppy farming businesses.
Dealers buy puppies in bulk looking for the highest profit margin, separating young dogs from their mothers and cramming them into vans to sell on elsewhere in the country.
It means an incredibly stressful time for puppies which makes worse any diseases they already have and increases chances of long-term behavioural problems, the charity said.
Greater Manchester is now second only to London as complaints to the RSPCA have more than doubled since 2010.
So far this year the RSCPA has received 3,232 calls – a 122% increase from five years ago.
RSPCA assistant director of public affairs David Bowles said as the problem grows the need to bring in regulations surrounding the sale of puppies is all the more urgent.
“These statistics just go to show the number of reports we receive are on the up just as the number of puppy farms and dealers increase.
“For dealers – these puppies are easy money – we believe they buy them in from Ireland and the continent for around £100 and then sell them on the Internet for many hundreds, even thousands of pounds.
“These people are gambling with the lives of not just these puppies – but the dogs they are bred from too and they are playing with the emotions of people and families who take them on as pets.”
