Puppy power came to the Houses of Parliament on Tuesday, when Marc Abraham, founder of PupAid, hosted a premiere of the American documentary Dog by Dog, which aims to raise awareness of the horrible realities of puppy farms.

Our very own Chief Executive, Caroline Yates, attended the premiere at the Palace of Westminster in London to show The Mayhew’s support and join a question and answer panel of animal welfare experts to discuss how the issue of puppy farming in the UK can be solved.

Dog by Dog is an American documentary that aims to uncover the awful issues surrounding puppy farms and why they have been allowed to remain in business. Vet, founder of PupAid and animal welfare campaigner, Marc Abraham, joined the Dog by Dog project in April 2015 to help expose the public to the cruel conditions of puppy farms.

Marc Abraham, said, “The Dog by Dog premiere was a success and showed the unity in the room for the change that is so desperately needed and the real global need to end the third party sales of dogs.”

“Dogs and puppies are sold widely in pet shops, garden centres, free newspaper ads and on the internet. It’s important to combat the impulse purchase and disposable pet mentality that is so prevalent in our society. This attitude to purchasing dogs with no real research or thought is one of the main reasons for abandoning pets, and charities like The Mayhew have to pick up the pieces to save and help these abandoned dogs.”

Alongside Marc and Caroline on the panel were also Christopher E Grimes Director of Dog by Dog, Christina Ksoll Executive Producer of Dog by Dog, MP Andrea Jenkyns, Linda Goodman Founder of C.A.R.I.A.D., Grace Kelly Herbert owner of Finding Shelter Animal Rescue, Sue Armstrong and Dr Roger Mugford.

Award-winning actor and animal rights advocate Peter Egan and The Mayhew’s TheraPaws manager Luke Berman also attended the Dog by Dog premiere to show their support.

The Mayhew Animal Home is completely against the indiscriminate trade in puppies and other young animals, and during the panel discussion Caroline specifically raised the point that we need animal welfare to become a part of the National Curriculum in order to educate future generations.

Caroline Yates, said: “Puppy farming is an iniquitous business where animals are simply seen as money-making breeding machines churning out litter after litter, of frequently inbred and sickly pups. There is no thought for the health and welfare of the breeding bitches or the pups.”

“It is far too easy to obtain a dog in this country and sadly, far too easy to give one up.  There should be accountability and legislation to curb inhumane breeding practices and a comprehensive campaign in schools, in the commercial sector to stop this horrible trade in suffering.”

At The Mayhew we advise people to try to adopt a pet instead of buying. If you do decide to buy, however, you should always make sure that you thoroughly research them first, checking the conditions the puppy has been born into and whether the puppy has been interacting with the mother.

You can watch the official trailer of the Dog by Dog documentary here, and you can find out more about the documentary on their website.

If you’d like to give a dog a second chance at happiness, then check our amazing pooches waiting for new homes.

Pictures courtesy of Julia Claxton Photography.