See with mum social media campaign

19 August 2016

Sheffield-based veterinary surgeon, Cat Henstridge, is leading a social media campaign to encourage potential pet owners to see puppies with their mother.

In partnership with the publication Companion Dog World, Cat has launched #poutforpuppies on Twitter and the website ‘seethemsuckling’ aimed at raising public awareness around the importance of seeing puppies with their mother.

“Although many of the general public are aware of the standard advice for buying a dog; always see the puppies with their mother and only buy from a family home, an equal (or greater) number do not or simply don’t care” says Cat. “A remarkable 16% (1.5million) of the dogs in the UK were purchased in a pet shop, 41% of purchasers didn’t see the bitch and 53% didn’t view the environment in which the litter was bred.”

The viral social media campaign asks pet owners to post “pouting selfies” with their dogs (where it is safe to do so), and use the hashtags #poutforpuppies and #seethemsuckling and link to the website https://seethemsuckling.wordpress.com .

“Please get involved” Cat urges, “and ask your staff and clients to post their selfies to social media and encourage others to do the same. Although too few people reach out to their local vets before buying a dog, we can influence their decisions thanks to social media. We can be more pro-active than ever before in spreading messages of responsible pet purchasing and animal welfare.”

“This is a social media campaign that will resonate with a lot of us in the veterinary profession”, says Ross Allan, BSAVA Public Relations Officer. “Those of us working in practice see cases where newly purchased puppies and their unsuspecting owners are paying the price of a cynical disregard for animal welfare by those in the puppy farm trade. Too often we only see these animals after they’ve been bought, so supporting this campaign can help influence prospective owners before they make a potentially devastating mistake that fuels this cruel industry.”

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