STOP IRRESPONSIBLE DOG BREEDERS IN MALAYSIA

A very close friend of mine has been bitten by the dog bug... I think Cleo (my rambunctious yellow labrador) has won his heart in one way or another, and so he decided that he would like to have a dog of his own. After much thought and deliberation he decided that he would like to have a German Shepherd which would basically be a family pet and a watch dog at the same time.

As I have had German Shepherds in the past (I practically grew up with German Shepherds), I knew a decent amount about caring for German Shepherd puppies and adults. So I was asked to help with choosing a suitable puppy. I don't proclaim to be an expert, but I guess a dog lover would generally know what to look for in a puppy and also how to care for a dog.

Anyway my friend found a breeder in Ipoh that claimed to have German Shepherd puppies from the working bloodline and was free from hip problems (this guy actually advertised in the papers). We were rather excited and we set off early Sunday morning to take a look at these puppies. The breeder met us at the Highway Exit and led us to where he kept the puppies and 2 of his bitches.

I was absolutely horrified at the conditions of the dogs... They were kept in some sort of factory/warehouse (where these people roasted suckling pigs for restaurants and hotels in Ipoh), and the enclosure that they were in looked more like a chicken coup. The area in which they were kept was quite hot (considering all the roasting of pigs that were being carried out there).There was a litter of puppies (about 3 weeks old) with the mother, lying on the dirty floor in one of the enclosures. I didn't see a water bowl or any food anywhere...

The puppies were quite dirty and when the mother dog got up, we didn't even realise that it was a German Shepherd. It was so scrawny you could see all the ribs sticking out of the poor girl, we thought it was some mangy mongrel until we got a better look at her... and she was obviously very frightened of the breeder cause she went into hiding as soon as she saw him. I do not believe that the bitch has been given proper care or even proper food. The puppies were rather inactive and looked malnourished, not to mention dirty. I guess the quality of milk that they were getting from the mother was rather compromised.

Then we noticed that there was another dog in an enclosure at the back. According to the breeder that was another female of his. This dog was also in a very sorry condition. It was incredibly thin and her ribs were also protruding. Her hind legs were also terribly bowed and she was walking with a funny gait. I was certain that her bones and joints were in a bad state.

We were shown a puppy that was about 8 weeks old, from another bitch apparently that was not at the premise. The breeder informed us that he had brought this puppy from his other premise... I have handled German Shepherd puppies from when I was a young kid, and I knew that this one was not normal.. it was very quiet and it's eyes were dull and had quite a bit of matter flowing from her eyes. Her coat was dull and dirty. She was also quite smelly. She was a sorry little thing. She was practically whimpering in my arms. The breeder wanted RM 4,000 for this puppy. I thought that he was just being ridiculous. I have no idea how he thought that anyone in their right minds would pay that amount of money for a dog that was in such a bad condition. I was also surpised to hear that these puppies have been certified by MKA??? How on earth did this chap get the certification? I would presume that MKA would need to have some assurance of the condition of the puppies, the bitch and sire before certification??? Perhaps he was lying about the certification...? We didn't stay long enough to find out.

We were so horrified with all that we saw that we left in a hurry. We went home with a sick feeling in our stomache knowing that those poor dogs and puppies will continue to suffer in the appaling conditions in which they were kept. As much as we wanted to take the puppy, so that we could give it a better life, we just could not buy from this guy cause it would just encourage him to breed even more puppies irresponsibly... and then the vicious cycle would just continue.

I would like to urge everyone not to buy puppies from irresponsible breeders. If you do you would only be encouraging them to mistreat more dogs and puppies, and you would be contributing directly to these dogs suffering. Breeders such as these, in my opinion, are merely out to make money, and have no feelings for the dogs at all. They should therefore be stopped from continuing their trade.

"When they buying stops, the suffering can too..."

"A puppy is for life, not just for Christmas"