Aside of what has been talked about above, think of “Blood Diamonds” from Sierra Leone or other plagued by conflict and civil war parts of Africa as an example. If only everyone in the world would know or care to think about the origin of diamonds from a troubled region! The atrocities the diamond workers and their families go through and the extremism funded by this trade. If everyone with a conscience would stop buying diamonds of such origin and insist on humane source of their jewels, willing to pay the extra costs of ethically produced gemstones, gradually, the trade would diminish. We can use many examples of controversies, where you may not think of origins and the negative chain of consequences you set off by supporting certain items with your purchase. Let’s just pick any household product tested on animals or cosmetic with unsustainable palm oil in it, not to mention the food you put on your plate… Unfortunately, controversial trades based on buyers ignorance flourish worldwide. You may have your own opinion on some topics, but we hope you get our point about ethical source of pets too and analogy used in this paragraph.
It’s not everyone’s fault. Many people are just not aware or have not done enough research before heading out to a pet store to buy a puppy or a kitten. We often come across shocked expressions when we quote price of our puppies (or kittens) to expats. A puppy may look cute and cost less in other shops, from UAE based pet traders or from unlicensed “breeders”, but surely you do not want to encourage puppies being raised in small, dirty cages in commercial farms, where countless adult dogs and cats are kept and bred in appalling conditions without much human interaction, medical care and love companion animals require and deserve.
It is quite simple. If you are buying from a breeder – insist to meet where you can see both animal parents and whole litter in their home, observe environment adult dogs/cats and puppies/kittens are being raised in, if they are kept in cages, how the breeder treats them, interacts with them, handles them, how parent dogs/cats and puppies/kittens behave. If you are buying from a pet store or importer/trader – ask for any photo/video evidence of both parents, their details, breeder details, any background info, where the breeder lives and how the puppies have been raised, ask to speak about how puppy has been exported and imported, puppy’s journey from the breeder’s home to the pet store. It is not hard to understand from the intonation, lack of relevant details or avoidance of questions where the puppy really comes from. Check the real age of the puppy (kitten), and think why date of birth is altered by those who try to sell you their cheaper pets.
You are investing into a family pet, your new family member for many years to come. Think about it and go for healthy, home bred puppy/kitten, raised in homes within family environment by breeders you can reach out to.
Even while losing to our “competition”, who sell questionably-sourced puppies/kittens at lower prices, we, at Pets Habitat, never cut our costs by picking our puppies from puppy mills/farms or kittens from commercial breeding setups! We WILL NEVER support such operations and WILL NOT tolerate any form of cruelty towards animals. We choose to uphold our ethics, and I would rather shut down our store than succumb to buying from mills and farms for economic reasons. Our puppies are guaranteed home-bred and raised, they are purchased directly by myself, the owner of Pets Habitat, and flown to Dubai most often by Emirates (except for brachycephalic breeds that Emirates no longer accepts). All the information on our puppies (and kittens) background is available and 100% transparent.
Do you really want to encourage puppy mills? Do you know, that by ordering a puppy from internet-based company abroad, or by buying a pet from an importer in UAE without asking for some proof of ethical background, you may seem to save fraction of money (which will later be spend on vet bills in higher amount), but at the same time you are inadvertently fuelling the puppy mill production? We suggest to do a bit of in-depth research on commercial puppy/kitten breeding setups that produce mass supply of various breeds in all sizes and colours, and only then decide if you would really like to pay for a pet that you do not know the exact origin of! Aside of the obvious cruelties inflicted on adult and young animals, puppy mills also rely on excessive inbreeding, and puppies often begin to show genetic problems within months or first years of life. Inbreeding means mating brother and sister to save on the hassles of finding the right stud / new blood line, and to increase production quickly to satisfy the demand for cheap puppies/kittens.
If you still decide to overlook the ethics and humanity in benefit of your budget, if you are still considering that questionable cheaper puppy – think of the vet bills your cheaper puppy will generate only to maintain all the ongoing health issues of poor breeding practices and unsanitary conditions from the very start of your puppy’s life. It is possible that your cheaper puppy will end up being another statistical death figure contributing to puppy mill trade turnover.
On the contrast, home bred pets from genuine breeders’ homes are healthy (sparing you massive expenses of vet expenses), already well socialised with family members, including kids and pets, and are ethically bred and raised with no element of cruelty involved at any stage.
Whatever way you see it, it makes no sense to support commercial mass breeding of puppies and kittens in farms or mills. And while you may still be in doubt about that cheaper puppy you’ve seen at another store, you should be aware of import regulation changes implemented by UAE Government in the past years. There is a valid reason UAE authorities have applied an age restriction ban on import of dogs and cats from these countries. Puppies originating from Hungary, Ukraine, Russia, Uzbekistan and several other termed “high risk” countries must be above 5-6 months of age upon entry into UAE, and only following mandatory Titre test to scrutinise and ensure complete absence of Rabies virus. Reasons for these import regulation changes are to protect UAE environment from any chance of fatal viruses and other serious health issues the puppies arriving from above mentioned “high risk” countries may carry and spread. Sadly, in the last few years the number of “puppy farms” sky rocketed in some countries based on demand for cheaper puppies and kittens, spreading inhumane treatment and unsanitary conditions animals are born, live and die in. To bypass minimum age requirement issue, puppy importers change date of birth of their puppies on documents to make them appear older, producing fake or incorrect vaccinations, harmful for the puppy at younger age, and any relevant documents required for export/import to conceal the real age of the puppies. If you ask the trader or pet store about the real age openly – you will often be told the truth, quite shamelessly.
Contrary, at Pets Habitat our puppies are of exact same age as their date of birth, stated on their documents, their passport and their pedigree. You can verify this with authorities directly if you do not believe us. All contact information is available on all the documents you receive with purchase of a puppy from Pets Habitat. Our vaccinations are real and timely, and are followed meticulously by the breeders in various regions of Italy and other parts of EU.
Once again, we believe we are the only pet store in UAE that has actively taken the initiative to import strictly home bred and ethically raised pets. We hope other pet stores/importers will follow suit. Please read our Importing & Selling page for more information on detailed process involved. We are confident enough on the quality of our pets that we offer you a 30 day “Money Back Guarantee” based on any serious health issue (please read our Health Warranty). We offer more value for your money and less hassle involved than buying cheaper, but unhealthy puppy or kitten from unethical source with not enough medical scrutiny or observation, love and care. You must be aware, the vet bills in UAE will quickly surpass the cost of the pet in case of even minor health concern. So please think through and don’t be thrifty when it comes to taking home a lifelong companion.
