Breaking News about Lockdown Dogs
My Podcast A DOG’S LIFE covers how dogs have become headline news during Lockdown
Over the past six months, dogs have been hitting the news!
Whether its dogs being trained to sniff out Covid19, provide companionship to the lonely, Lockdown saw the UK run out of puppies!
Whether this sudden boom in ‘puppy love’ was a reaction to loneliness or to provide entertainment for the kids. One thing’s for sure a ‘dog is for life, not just for Lockdown”!
The new legislation Lucy’s Law became effect in England on April 6th 2020. Lucy’s Law bans the third party sale of puppies. However Lockdown spurred people to buy puppies online and pay the price with heartbreak.
As lockdown rules prohibited people from travelling to see and buy a puppy, the more unscrupulous ‘doggy dealers’ optimised lockdown by delivering puppies door to door after an online puppy purchase.
The case of the Love Island couple, whose puppy Pomeranian, Mr Chai, died just days after arriving from Russia spurred a petition: Ban The Exploitative Import of Young Puppies For Sale into the UK.
Receiving over 100,000 signatures in 41 days, this unprecedented momentum assures #BanPuppyImports will be discussed in Parliament.
Mr Chai had been purchased legally (although not in line with Government and Defra’s guidelines to see the puppy interacting with its mother).
Mr Chai was bred in Russia and like many puppies bred overseas and shipped to the UK he suffered health issues.
Click here to listen to my podcast with vet Marc Abraham who campaigned for Lucy's Law to ban third-party puppy sales
Lockdown dogs could face eviction
If the health and welfare of a Lockdown puppy wasn’t enough, there’s concern that many could face homelessness either because people haven’t thought through dog ownership, or received written confirmation from a landlord or leaseholder that a puppy is ‘allowed’.
As private landlords continue to discriminate against pet tenants, they fly in the face of Government guidelines in its ‘Model Tenancy Agreement’.
In a bid to protect tenants and encourage pets for lets, Government changed its clause about pets in its ‘model tenancy agreement’ in favour of tenants with well-behaved pets in 2016.
Despite the Government’s statutory pet clause, Landlords still either misinterpret or simply issue a blanket ‘no pets’ policy. Shockingly the National Landlords Association concurs that 55% of landlords exclude pets.
The devastating impact on pets losing their forever homes due to Landlords’ illogical perception is at odds with the Model tenancy agreement, clearly stating that written consent should not be delayed or withheld.
Click here to listen to my podcast with Gabby Kuehn, founder of Paaw House
An increase in barking and anxiety
Adding to the post lockdown doggy dilemmas, a recent study analysing the impact of Lockdown on dogs shows that increased barking is a consistent symptom not only in the UK, but also in Spain and Italy.
It also revealed that 60% of owners found their dog a great comfort, whilst 37% owners said dogs were not coping well, showing signs of nervousness, frustration and attention seeking. Another 20% owners admitted giving their dogs lots more treats!
As we’re adjusting to a ‘new’ normal, the concern is that dogs are now so used to having their ‘people’ at home 24/7, doggy anxieties and behavioural issues are forecast to soar.
For more about these subjects, please tune into my podcast: A Dog’s Life with Anna Webb, streaming on all platforms