1386 days ago

Charity urges people to buy mixed breed dogs to curb pedigree puppy thefts

Caryn Wilkinson Reporter from Community News

Animal rights group SAFE is appealing to dog lovers to buy mixed breeds from shelters to deter pedigree puppy thefts.

The plea follows an apparent spike in valuable purebred dogs being stolen around the country.

Chief executive officer Debra Ashton said SAFE had seen a rise in the number of stolen pedigree pooches reported on social media.

“It's cruelty in the highest degree both for the animals and for the families that are having their dogs stolen.

“This is completely unacceptable and the community together needs to fight against it.”

Ashton recommends people go to animal charities which are “screaming out” for good loving homes instead of buying expensive pedigrees from “puppy mills”.

This could help to “nip the theft business in the bud” by reducing demand, she said.

Ashton urged people to be aware of animals being stolen for dog fighting to speak out, and to question new pet owners about where they got their pedigrees.

The price of puppies is believed to be skyrocketing due to more demand after the Covid-19 lockdown.

“I’ve heard figures of around $4000 to $8000 which is phenomenal for purchasing a dog,” Ashton said.

Cavoodle puppies – a hybrid of a cavalier king charles spaniel and a poodle – are selling on Trade Me for $6000, golden retriever puppies for $4000 and Dobermans for $3000 a pup.

Trade Me has seen 28,000 searches for puppies in the last week - a 34 per cent jump on the same time last year.

Would you prefer to buy a pedigree pooch or a mixed breed puppy?

Why?

*Please put NFP if you do not want your comments used by Stuff.

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More messages from your neighbours
15 days ago

What's your favourite recipe for courgettes?

Mei Leng Wong Reporter from NZ Gardener & Get Growing

Kia ora neighbours. If you've got a family recipe for courgettes, we'd love to see it and maybe publish it in our magazine. Send your recipe to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, and if we use it in the mag, you will receive a free copy of our January 2025 issue.

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4 days ago

Live Q&A: Garden maintenance with Crewcut

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

This Wednesday, we are having another Neighbourly Q&A session. This time with John Bracewell from Crewcut.

John Bracewell, former Black Caps coach turned Franchisee Development Manager and currently the face of Crewcut’s #Movember campaign, knows a thing or two about keeping the grass looking sharp—whether it’s on a cricket pitch or in your backyard!

As a seasoned Crewcut franchisee, John is excited to answer your lawn and gardening questions. After years of perfecting the greens on the field, he's ready to share tips on how to knock your garden out of the park. Let's just say he’s as passionate about lush lawns as he is about a good game of cricket!

John is happy to answer questions about lawn mowing, tree/hedge trimming, tidying your garden, ride on mowing, you name it! He'll be online on Wednesday, 27th of November to answer them all.

Share your question below now ⬇️

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9 hours ago

Calling All Puzzle Masters! Can You Solve This?

Riddler from The Neighbourly Riddler

When John was six years old he hammered a nail into his favorite tree to mark his height.
Ten years later at age sixteen, John returned to see how much higher the nail was.
If the tree grew by five centimetres each year, how much higher would the nail be?

Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.

Want to stop seeing riddles in your newsfeed?
Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.

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