Dogs Trust are calling on more severe punishment for those responsible for running puppy farms across the country.
They have launched their campaign "Puppy Farms are a Life Sentence," and are appealing to the public to sign a petition which calls for more action to be taken against those who run these illegal puppy farms.
The charity has spent €61,000 in veterinary fees for 161 puppies. The majority of these puppies came from two sources, however each of these were fined less than €2,000.
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Speaking about the campaign, Head of Communications, Dogs Trust Ireland, Ciara Murran says: “We are particularly shocked at the small fines imposed on puppy farmers, compared to what it costs the charity."
Dogs Trust say that purchasing a puppy from one of these illegal farms is not only bad for the puppy, it is also a life sentence for the mothers that they leave behind.
The stark reality of rehabilitating these puppies, also goes much further than just returning the puppies to good physical health.
Dog Trust said that "two of the victims the charity cared for are Mollie, a six-year-old Poodle and Rudi, a four-year-old Cavalier King Charles. Both dogs arrived into Dogs Trust suffering from appalling matting of their fur, severely overgrown nails, dental disease and ear infections."
They pups were "absolutely terrified" and and according to the team, tried to hide and avoid human contact whenever possible. Despite being adopted to a loving home, it took four months until their adopters could touch them.
Pam King, who adopted Mollie and Rudi, said that she has had dogs all her life and has adopted ones from all types of backgrounds but that she had "never witnessed the fear that Mollie and Rudi demonstrated when we first adopted them."
The charity says that "behind buying that ‘cute’ puppy advertised online, you may be unwittingly fuelling the trade that sentences the parent dogs to a life of misery."
Dogs Trust is urging the public to sign their petition via DogsTrust.ie/LifeSentence calling for tougher punishment for puppy farmers.
Find Dogs Trust on Facebook , and Instagram or follow the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #LifeSentence
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