LAHORE:
The appeal of keeping pure-bred dogs as pets has led to an uptick in the breeding business, with farms popping up all over the country, but it has also created room for fraudsters to exploit dog lovers.
Primarily, a lack of dogs with verifiable pedigrees, which is the record of its descent showing it is pure-bred, aids fraud in breeding. Since there is no law requiring breeding farm owners to maintain such records, they can hoodwink first time owners easily, by selling them mixed breed dogs.
“This rising trend of tricking people by selling them a low quality breed instead of a pure-bred dog is quite worrying for the dog lovers community in the country,” opined Chaudhry Farhan Anwar, Member of various International Dog Clubs and of the Government Task Force associated with the Punjab Wildlife Department. Anwar said that he was personally aware of many people who sold puppies in wellknown bazaars and pet stores across Lahore by claiming them to be pure-bred German Shepherds.
“Similarly, many breeding farms also deceive people by either not giving buyers the dog’s pedigree or forging one,” he informed. Anwar was of the view that the only way the practice could be curbed was if the law mandated breeders to keep authentic pedigrees according to international standards.
“Pedigrees or a breed register stores all information about the dog’s lineage and if its ancestors were the same breed as it, then it is considered to be of a pure breed,” explained Anwar. Although buying mixed breed dogs is not the end of the world, Nasir Malik, Secretary of the Kennel Club Pakistan, believes that mixed breeds do not get used to homes or humans the same way as pure-bred dogs do.
“Often when people get a dog they get confused when their dog is not comfortable in its new surroundings, that is because the dog is not of a pure breed,” he informed. Like Anwar, Malik said that he was aware of many pet shops in Lahore which were duping people into believing that they sold pure-bred dogs. Even if it is not pet shops, Malik identified that selling through social media websites like Instagram and Facebook or through online classifieds provides a protective cover to breeders’ efforts to trick people into believing that the dogs they sell are from a pure bloodline.
“People should be wary of the fraudsters when they go to buy a dog as there is no way to certify a dog’s breed in Pakistan like there is in European countries, or the United States,” cautioned Malik, adding that people should go to reputable breeding farms only. “There are also efforts underway to start the process of keeping pedigrees for dogs. Until then, the government should frame necessary rules and regulations for dog clubs and breeding farms,” suggested Malik while talking to The Express Tribune.
