Activists aim at puppy sales

By John Knox, Burnaby NOW reporter

Since the recent dog mauling of 14-year-old Shenica White, much media attention has been given to the behavioural problems caused when dogs are chained up and isolated for long periods of time.

But a local animal rights organization is calling on the public to watch out for what they say is yet another increasing form of dog abuse and exploitation - puppy trafficking.

"This is a terrible situation and it's only getting worse," said Joann Bessler, a Delta woman who has been working with the Animal Advocates Society to document and investigate puppy mills and puppy traffickers throughout B.C.

"It's really a big, big business when you think about it - people really have no idea. While we've found a lot of these mills throughout the province, a lot of the traffickers are right here in the Lower Mainland, even Burnaby."

For the last nine months, Bessler has been monitoring local newspapers and other neighbourhood notices throughout the province to establish a database of those who may be involved in puppy mills or wholesale trafficking.

In less than a year, Bessler and a team of volunteers from throughout the province have tracked 8,772 ads representing 2,075 suspected traffickers and 4,760 litters for sale.

As for Burnaby, Bessler believes there are a minimum of 56 repeat traffickers in the city who have moved a total of 110 litters in the last nine months.

"These advertisements look innocent enough - it almost sounds like your next-door neighbour had a litter of pups and is looking to sell them off," Bessler said. "That in itself would be fine, but with this database we're getting a really clear picture as to what's really going on out there."

One of the easiest tell-tale signs to watch for, Bessler said, is when the same telephone numbers appear in advertisements time and time again.

But according to AAS president Judy Stone, Burnaby's problem may in fact be worse.

"The volunteers have been tracking these people's locations based on their telephone numbers, but a lot of people are turning to cell phones and the Internet - they could be anywhere," Stone said.

Stone, a harsh critic of the B.C. SPCA and its municipal branches, is particularly frustrated when she informs officials of their findings but little or no action is taken.

She said the AAS has since taken their cause to the Internet in the hopes of raising public awareness and bringing accountability to unscrupulous breeders.

At puppy mills, Stone said, mature dogs are kept for only one purpose - to produce litter after litter of pups which can be put up for sale.

"The conditions at these mills are absolutely cruel and inhumane," Stone said, noting that recent investigations into a number of Okanagan-based operations revealed that the breeding dogs were being kept in tiny, cramped quarters, often filled with heaps of their own feces.

Bessler said the mills sometimes sell their pups off individually as family pets, but are more likely to sell off entire litters to so-called puppy traffickers who will take them to their own homes and sell them a second time for profit.

Unfortunately, many of these pups are plagued with health or behavioural problems which stem from a combination of poor genes and horrid living conditions.

"A lot of the health problems also have to do with the simple fact that these pups are taken away from their mothers far too early," Bessler said. "We've had numerous reports of people who have bought dogs from these traffickers and there's all sorts of health problems - and there's nothing they can do about it."

Bessler and Stone encourage the public to be cautious when buying a puppy, and pressure local authorities if they have any concerns about the welfare of animals on the site.

They also ask that mills, traffickers and animal abuse be reported to the AAS by sending e-mail to bybtracker@ animaladvocates.com

"The easiest way to tell there's something wrong is when you'll hear the animals crying," Bessler said. "If you hear a dog that's crying all the time, report it - there's probably something there that's not right."