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– Check whether your puppy has been vaccinated and has been socialised
before you take them home DORSET TRADING STANDARDS
– Buying from an unlicensed breeder could mean that your puppy may not have Dorset County Council Trading Standards Service check and
the right medical records and could have hereditary health issues which could
lead to heavy vet bills in the future. approve businesses so you don’t have to.
For more information visit www.buywithconfidence.gov.uk or
If you suspect dogs are being bred illegally then please report it to Trading call 08454 040506.
Standards by calling the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 0808 223 1133. To report or seek advice about problems you have

experienced when dealing with a trader call 08454 040506.

Dorset Council has become a driving force for the prevention of illegal puppy
SHAFTESBURY OASIS SWIMMING POOL breeding across the county. Asking people across Dorset to ‘Stop and Think’
before buying a puppy.

“Hi Dave, have you been waiting Dorset Council Trading Standards and Environmental Health Teams are working
long? I enquired as I met my old together to raise awareness of the multi-million-pound puppy breeding trade that
friend at the entrance to is happening right under our noses.
Shaftesbury Oasis Swimming Pool. Covid 19 has brought a significant increase in both the selling of illegal puppies
The old team had reassembled to and the cost of puppies. With more people working from home, dog ownership
enjoy the delights of swimming at has become more attractive and easier. This very lucrative market means that
this North Dorset pool. Robert, my puppies are being sold from unlicensed breeders, too often without any
eight year old grandson was with consideration of the welfare and environmental needs of the puppy.
me and he was looking forward to
his first experience of swimming in An unlicensed puppy breeder is someone
an outdoor pool. Pic 183 who does not have a dog breeding licence
but who earns more than £1000 per year from
Many of you will remember that selling puppies.
Dave Pratten and I had
completed a challenge to swim a Dorset Council has updated its website
mile in every UK open air pool in 2007/08. We ended up swimming a mile in 99 facilities to allow users to check if breeders
separate pools and went back to Wiveliscombe to swim that twice to make a are licensed, to report unlicensed breeders,
100. Since then Shaftesbury Pool has been brought back to life as an outdoor and tips on knowing what to look for and
pool by the town council: brilliant! check when buying a puppy, including:
I can find no record as to when the pool was originally built but feel sure that – No puppy should be sold under the age of
someone can enlighten me? What I do know is that it started off life as a lido but 8 weeks and the puppy should be
in April 2006 planning permission was granted to erect a canopy over the pool. microchipped
This was completed with a £50,000 grant from ITV West Region Big Lottery fund
and for a few years it became an indoor pool. – Always see the puppy with its mother
– Never buy/collect a puppy from service stations, pubs, car parks or any public
In 2012 the glass roof collapsed during a storm and the building fell into disrepair
until it reopened again in 2015 as an outdoor pool. Last year it opened for a short area, the puppy should be in the home of the breeder.
summer holiday season but this year (2016) it will be operating from 28 .May to – If your puppy is advertised with a ‘passport’ this could mean they’ve been
th
18 .September. imported
th
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