“You became responsible, forever, for what you tamed” – says the fox to the little prince. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, French writer and pilot, has an eternal quote that remains highly significant even after the turn of the 2000s, as the issue of responsible pet ownership is always critically important and current.
Responsible pet ownership
In our current world, unfortunately, there are few people or families who choose a dog for themselves based on the important principles of responsible pet ownership, and then care for, raise, and love them according to these same principles for many years.
This increasingly important and timely problem area, such as responsible pet ownership and the path leading to it, we try to analyze and explore in 5 separate chapters (5 articles), providing advice to help prospective puppy buyers and dog owners, dog-owning families navigate this broad topic.
Within the question of responsible pet ownership, the 5 articles deal with 5 different topics. Here are the individual chapters and their subjects:
Chapter I – Hungarian Dog Market
We have analyzed and present within one article the offers on online classified sites and also talk about dogs offered for sale at markets and animal fairs.
Chapter II – Choosing the right dog breed
We provide good advice to help you select the dog breed that is suitable in every respect for you and your family.
Chapter III – Good advice for puppy purchase
The next step is to decide from whom it is worth choosing or buying a puppy within the given breed. To make the right decision, we give some good advice in this article!
Chapter IV – Breeder vs. puppy mill – the differences
We present the difference between a breeder who dedicates themselves wholeheartedly to the breed and a money-hungry puppy mill. This chapter contains very important information. Please, read it and remember what you read so you never accidentally run into a puppy mill.
Chapter V – Responsible animal love and careful upbringing
In this chapter you can read useful information about the golden rules of responsible pet ownership. I hope you manage to apply what you read in real life as well, to hold, care for, love, and carefully raise your pet responsibly!
After the above introduction, let's get to the point. Chapter I starts here and now! Let's see what exactly the “Hungarian Dog Market” covers. Please join me!
Responsible pet ownership Chapter I – “Hungarian Dog Market”
“Hungarian Dog Market” – simply put, this is exactly what has been experienced for many years in Hungary when looking at the offers on online classified sites. And the situation is becoming increasingly hopeless year by year! Those interested in puppies, who sooner or later become buyers, do not know how and from where it is free or worth buying a puppy. They cannot decide which breed to choose in a given case; after deciding on the breed, they do not know from whom to inquire about puppies and who under no circumstances should be chosen from, who is a careful breeder and who is an irresponsible puppy mill, and many do not even know what responsible pet ownership and careful animal love mean. Often indecision or poor decisions stem from ignorance or basically from buyers not wanting to spend “much,” we can also assume that maybe both at once.
Let's take a family who wants to buy a puppy. What do they do first? Most immediately look around on online classified sites because it is the easiest and quickest. Let's do the same and see what we can see or actually see on these advertisement portals, starting with the “most popular” one visited by most. The first striking advertisement is the following:
“Excellent quality Pyrenean puppies for sale. The puppies have different prices, there is also one for 20,000.” – so there is one for 20,000 HUF, we also learned that! No vaccinations, no chip, no pedigree mentioned in the advertisement, not to mention the other important things.
The following advertisement could even be for a vehicle, the first few words reflect that, but it is not: "For sale 2 extra-equipped French Bulldog puppies, they will be 4 weeks old soon, reservations are possible after personal viewing! The price includes chip and first vaccination and continuous deworming. Raised on quality food from extra-equipped parents, bige color 90,000.- HUF." – Comparing the French Bulldog breed to a fully equipped vehicle is very bold, the dog, no matter the breed, is a living and feeling animal, while a vehicle is a means of transportation serving humans. The color is not known in this spelling. Here, the chip and first vaccination are mentioned, a step better than the previous one, but there is still no pedigree, and the price is high compared to this.
"American Bulldog puppies for sale. Chip, vaccination, deworming with each, pedigree on request, from excellent bloodline parents. 30,000.- HUF" – pedigree (registration papers) on request and the puppies cost only 30,000.- HUF, which also does not reflect quality.
"Quality, purebred Westie puppies for sale from a pair! 4 females (girls)! They are 6 weeks old, have received the first vaccination and deworming! Their price is fixed! 35,000 HUF – I await calls from serious buyers!" – puppies also without chip or pedigree. Based on the price, the “quality” label in the ad is highly questionable.
There are those who express it in a poem, sprinkled with some additional information at the end:
“We were born little gang,
we already have a nice coat.
Our little hearts have been beating for six weeks,
silver-tan will be our color.
We can eat a lot,
soon we will get shots.
We play, sleep a lot,
our upkeep is not a fortune.
Our small body will stay little,
with many spurts we barely progress.
So better come for us,
And don’t forget what we ask.
Care for us, and pamper us,
Let us live by this principle.
So don’t hesitate, call our number,
We make good playmates.
Thanks for seeing us,
remember this link well.
Call us if you want us,
because we will be gone while you scratch your behind.”
Uh… well… oh, better not!
"Beautiful, quality, baby-faced, extra mini Yorkie girl, and 3 mini siblings (1 girl, 2 boys) waiting for an owner. Price: 55,000.- HUF. – "Quality, baby-faced and extra mini" – extra mini Yorkshire Terrier does not exist (Yorkshire terrier standard>>), this was invented just for better marketability, who and when is unknown, but many advertise puppies this way, probably because buyers find it interesting and buy more easily when advertised as extra mini. However, neither chip nor pedigree is mentioned, only vaccination and deworming, the quality label in this case does not hold up.
This advertiser is very brief: "Kuvasz male, purebred, 9 weeks old, for sale for 5,000 Forints." – I cannot understand this at all. How can a puppy be sold for 5,000.- HUF? Poor puppy, advertised like this, what kind of family will it end up with or who knows where!
The next type of advertisement that must be mentioned is the "I would exchange the dog for something" type. Here is the first such ad I came across: "For sale or exchange 2-year-old purebred Chihuahua female who has given birth once to 3 beautiful puppies, there was also a chocolate colored pup among them, the dog weighs 1 kg 20 dkg, a tiny dog. Interested in exchange: Tablet PC, laptop, livestock or possibly bull-type dog. Exchange or price: 25,000.- HUF." The price again does not reflect quality, 25,000.- HUF or exchange for a laptop (what a price difference). A dog is a living and feeling being, we do not just trade them back and forth if we get bored, such owners/advertisers are condemnable!
The next advertisement can be interpreted the same way but is severely lacking in information. What can we think in such cases? Probably the advertiser only cares that it can be exchanged, as they specified what it can be exchanged for! – "Very beautiful cream-colored Chihuahua (and it will stay so) puppy for sale. House trained, 2X vaccinated. Interested in exchange options: phone, laptop, etc."
Also a replaceable advertisement: „6-month-old female Chihuahua puppy for sale or exchange for something meaningful to us. /furniture, male Great Dane…..etc/. Well socialized, loves to walk, gets along well with other dogs and cats. Comes from a registered mother and a purebred father. Small-sized.” – vaccination and chip not mentioned, let alone the pedigree, but it is likely that only the mother has a pedigree, the father is just “simply purebred.”
„1 bag of dog food (lamb) for 1.5-year-old standard dachshund female, she has given birth once to 8 puppies.”– specifically around 8000.- HUF and 10,000.- HUF or even cheaper. One and a half years old and already gave birth once. Ideally, breeding should only start after one and a half years since every dog develops a lot until then. Miserable!
One especially condemnable advertisement is the following: „CHRISTMAS SALE SALE!!! For sale 6 pcs of 6-week-old Chow Chow puppies: 5 males and 1 female, the puppies have been dewormed 70,000.- HUF.” – „Christmas Sale” this goes beyond all limits. Unfortunately, many people advertise animals for sale with such text, puppies, cats, and other animals as well: “Beautiful gift for St. Nicholas, Christmas”… it can be anything, but 78% of live animals given as gifts end up on the street or shelters after the holidays! No chip or pedigree, vaccination is also not mentioned in the ad. Beyond these, the main problem is the inappropriate way of advertising and the seller’s mindset, unfortunately!
We also need to mention ads searching for dogs. Here is one such: „Preferably a cream-colored Chow Chow puppy, max 20,000 HUF, I would go immediately to get it!!!” – it can be inferred from this how much some buyers are willing to offer for a puppy, and it should even be cream-colored, which is considered a “rarity” in this breed (of course, everyone wants to get it “cheaply,” I know, but it’s not that simple). There is no cream-colored Chow Chow available for 20,000 HUF, and if there is, it certainly does not represent quality!
Finally, I want to say a few words about the most disliked advertisements. These are ads of “puppy dealers,” which can be found for almost every breed on all advertisement portals! Here is an example: „We buy purebred puppies with immediate payment across the country from almost every breed! We also reserve three-week-old puppies of sought-after breeds. Chow, Akita, Shiba Inu, English and French Bulldog, Cavalier, Spitz, Chihuahua, Maltese, Pug, Poodle, etc.”– for quality breeders who are willing to do anything/sacrifice for their own breed, the operation of “puppy dealers” is one of the biggest problems. This “industry” has been operating in Hungary for decades, but unfortunately, every action to prevent their operation has so far failed. “Puppy breeding and consequently commerce” still thrives in Hungary. I believe that only through cooperation can these dealers and trucks full of puppies transported abroad be stopped. As an example, I would mention Germany, where starting from 2011, the German Kennel Club, cooperating with state authorities as well as German animal health and welfare organizations, has taken up the fight against illegal “puppy factories and puppy trade.” For the future, this could be the goal in Hungary too, because only together can we achieve results against “puppy factories and puppy trade!” The German cooperation can also be viewed as a model to follow.
Within the topic of responsible pet ownership, among other things, we introduce our readers to the opinion and appeal of the International Cynological Federation, the FCI concerning “puppy factories and puppy trade,” as well as the German “Working Group Against Puppy Trade,” its operations, goals, appeals and requests addressed to the public, and advice recommended to puppy buyers. If you want to read the articles immediately, please click on the orange text parts!
Regarding the „Hungarian Dog Market” – we have already looked through some advertisements from online listing sites. We must also mention the sale of puppies at markets. The sellers who sell their puppies at various markets also do so cheaply, often without pedigree papers and chip, and even without vaccinations. Another group of buyers purchase their puppies at markets. The buyers buy the puppies that look cute in the heat of the moment (because they are so “cute”) , and if the seller encourages this a bit, they only realize that they have bought a puppy cheaply, which has neither pedigree nor chip, and it is not even certain that it is purebred. Puppies bought in such a way often cause many surprises for families later on. Puppy buyers often report that these puppies did not resemble the breed at all, not even in traces. Furthermore, many of them do not even receive the first vaccination, and the owner only faces this when they bring the puppy home and it gets sick due to this lack. On social media platforms, people share their experiences on this topic; I often read that puppies bought from such breeders advertising on online listing sites, or at markets, from unknown people, from boxes often got sick or even died, despite the owners’ efforts to treat them. Many have also reported that although the price of puppies purchased in this way was between 10,000 and 40,000 HUF, when the puppies got sick, they spent much more on their treatment, and veterinary costs were many times the purchase price!
Lesson: „cheap dogs are often more expensive than expensive dogs”, if the puppy gets sick, the new owner can spend many times the purchase price on treatment, and if they are unlucky, this can continue for many years. Never buy puppies from sellers advertising on online listing sites and forget about puppies sold at markets as potential family members!
Editor's note:
Dear dog lover, future dog buyer, future dog owner!
On most popular online listing sites, all those advertising puppies without pedigree and chip are breeders. This means that if you buy a dog from them, you can expect many behavioral and health problems and diseases! In addition, if you buy a dog from them, you support breeding! Breeding is an illegal activity! Think responsibly! Please do not buy puppies from breeders advertising on online listing sites!
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More useful and valuable articles for dog lovers can be viewed on the author’s official website.
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