UKs First-Ever Boutique Music Festival And Dog Show To Raise Awareness About Cruel Puppy Farming Industry

Ladies and gentleman, please welcome to the stage… PUP AID!! On Sunday 19th September 2010 dog-loving celebrities, musicians, sports personalities, comedians, soap stars and bands will all be giving their support to the UK’s first ever boutique music festival and charity fun dog show on this year’s Puppy Farm Awareness Day, organized by ‘social petworking’ website www.ThePet.net. This rather special day taking place in the beautiful countryside surrounding Stanmer House near Brighton aims to educate the thousands of people in the UK who are considering buying a puppy but is unsure who to contact or even what to do about purchasing one. PUP AID 2010 will feature a celebrity-judged dog show with fun classes open to dogs of all ages, as well as showcasing the best local bands. There’ll also be a boutique doggy shopping village, Scruffs cross-breed heats, assistance dog displays, Rex Factor, gourmet Bar-B-Q, and loads of fun for all the family - and of course your dogs too!! ThePet.net co-founders, TV Vet Marc Abraham and social media guru Andrew Seel wanted the British public to know the truth about where badly-bred puppies come from, and to help them choose a happy and healthy puppy rather than a sick or dying farmed one. PUP AID will try and help dog buyers everywhere be aware of how nasty this side of dog breeding is, and hopefully reduce the demand for pups bred in this way and help put a stop to puppy farming in this country. Tickets for PUP AID 2010 will be available to buy online from August 1st with a proportion of every admission charge being donated to the local Shoreham Dogs Trust Rescue Centre. TV Vet Marc Abraham says “A well-bred happy healthy pup is well-worth waiting for. Sadly many people are inpatient, don’t do their research or try to cut corners. This demand then fuels this evil industry as these pups are usually cheaper to purchase but because they've been bred in such poor conditions, often don't survive, or live their shortened lives in pain and discomfort with horrific deformities, health probs (like heart disease, arthritis) and/or behavioural issues that often cost broken-hearted owners thousands of pounds to correct. We must end the mass-production of diseased and poorly pups”. To register for your tickets, keep up-to-date with the line-up, or indeed if you’d like to exhibit, perform or sponsor PUP AID 2010 visit www.ThePet.net and why not follow @thepetnet on Twitter? PUP AID 2010 has already gained massive support from Kennel Club, Dog’s Trust, Oldies Club, Natural Instinct, Be Puppy Farm Aware, Due South Restaurant, The Treatment Rooms, BrightonVisitor.com, Royal Sovereign, Lucky Voice and Gresham Blake. What is a Puppy Farm? Puppy Farms are located in remote areas of the British countryside and mass-produce puppies which are usually removed from their mothers too early, transported around the country to dealers, and then sold from the internet, pet shops, free newspapers or even motorway service stations. This battery-farming of dogs on a massive scale is purely for profit and at the expense of the health and welfare of not only the puppies, but the breeding bitches and stud-dogs too. As a result these poor puppies are bought lacking socializing skills and commonly suffer from fatal health problems which can include pneumonia, parvovirus, as well as dangerous infestations of fleas and worms, often requiring hundreds of pounds of veterinary or behavioural treatment to fix. Breeding bitches are usually kept in cages or small pens, rarely see daylight or touch grass, and are mated on every heat; just fed enough to keep them producing pups, with little or no veterinary care at all. Hundreds of thousands of these poor bitches and studs are kept in the dark and endlessly mated to mass-produce pups that are sick, diseased and unsocialized. These poorly puppies are then sold online, in pet shops and from free newspaper adverts, while their mothers and fathers continue to suffer in pain - both mentally and physically. Unfortunately so many dog owners are still not aware goes on - and even fewer know how to spot the tell-tale signs of when someone is trying to sell them a puppy produced in this cruel heartless way. Checklist for Buying a Pedigree Puppy If you’re dead-set on buying a pedigree puppy and you’ve already considered visiting your local rescue shelter and adopting a dog then please ensure you don’t fall into the trap of buying a puppy bred on a cruel puppy farm. By following these simple points it’s likely that you will purchase a well-bred happy and healthy pup:

• CONSIDER checking out the Kennel Club Breed Rescue Directory.
• ALWAYS contact the Kennel Club first for their list of responsible breeders, e.g. those who are members of Accredited Breeders Scheme
• ALWAYS do your research into breed, temperament, training and exercise needs, coat-type, size and life-expectancy.
• NEVER buy cos you ‘feel sorry’ for the pup – its mother and father are still suffering and will be used again to fill the space you’ve just created.
• NEVER buy from a pet shop, online or free newspaper ad.
• ALWAYS ask to see the puppy interacting with its mother.
• BEWARE of puppy scams – there should be no excuse why the mother isn’t there.
• NEVER buy from multi-breed dealers, i.e. more than 1 or 2 breeds for sale – these are puppy farmed.
• BE WARY of dealers/sellers who won’t take the pup back if any problems arise.
• BE PREPARED to wait and don’t buy on impulse – a well-bred pup will be happier and healthier in the long term.
• WALK AWAY if it doesn’t feel right – a responsible breeder will never pressure you into buying a pup.
• BE PREPARED to be asked as many questions as you’ll ask the breeder – a responsible breeder won’t sell to someone who’s not suited to their breed.
• LISTEN to advice from responsible breeders – they are experts for that particular breed.
• SUPPORT PUP AID 2010 music festival & fun dog show to raise awareness about puppy farming and encouraging adopting from rescue and buying puppies from responsible breeders.

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