Puppy buyers in Yorkshire are being catfished into buying unhealthy pets by ‘cute’ pictures on social media, The Kennel Club warns as part of its Be Puppywise campaign

New research, released on October 9 by dog welfare company The Kennel Club, has announced the alarming influence of social media on puppy buying in Yorkshire and the repercussions for canine welfare.

As part of The Kennel Club’s Be Puppywise campaign, statistics show triple the number of aspiring owners in Yorkshire are turning to social media sites to find a puppy compared to five years ago.

However, The Kennel Club is warning that platforms like Instagram and TikTok give unethical breeders easy access to a mass market, where they can sell puppies with little investigation, and deceptively appeal to millions of unaware buyers with ‘cute’ and cleverly disguised pup pictures and posts.

Appallingly, across the UK, the organisation’s research found that one in four puppies (25 per cent) advertised on social media get sick or die before their first birthday.

Thousands more unsuspecting owners in Yorkshire experience complications when buying a puppy, with half (51 per cent) facing unexpectedly high financial costs, nearly a fifth (15 per cent) admitting their dog had behavioural issues they weren’t expecting, and one in five (18 per cent) regretting the way they purchased their dog.

The research also indicates that instead of conducting thorough searches about their puppy’s background, would-be owners in the region are drawn in by ‘cute’ photos.

Nearly four in 10 (38 per cent) owners in Yorkshire bought their puppy ‘because it was cute’.

More than a quarter (27 per cent) admit it was the ‘cute puppy photo’ that most appealed in their pet’s advertising.

A further fifth (21 per cent) worryingly spent less than two hours doing their research leaving them particularly vulnerable to scams and unable to spot the signs of puppy farms.

The Kennel Club is warning that duplicitous breeders are taking advantage of this lack of awareness - more than one in five puppies (22 per cent) bought in Yorkshire are suspected to have originated on a puppy farm, after owners are captivated by puppies advertised on sites like Instagram and TikTok and miss the warning signs.

More than half (55 per cent) didn’t see the puppy interacting with their mum and suspect they didn’t see their puppy’s breeding environment, and 69 per cent didn’t see any vaccination records.

The research also shows that, despite the worrying consequences of making hasty and uninformed decisions based on what has been seen online, social media has an increasingly powerful influence.

Half of puppy buying decisions (50 per cent) in Yorkshire are influenced by social media and nearly one in four (24 per cent) in the region said that when buying their puppy, their main information source was either social media, influencers or celebrities - over vets, dog welfare organisations and breed experts.

Chief executive at The Kennel Club, Mark Beazley, said: “In today’s curated digital world, enticing photos are the lifeblood of social media and pictures of puppies grab attention - so there is an obvious appeal to buying and selling puppies using these platforms.

“But if people forget that behind every cute photo on social media, there is a real puppy, and a real need to ensure that their health and welfare has been prioritised, then there can be truly devastating consequences.

“Platforms like Instagram and TikTok can give unscrupulous breeders easy access to a mass market, where they can sell pups with little scrutiny, so it’s down to the puppy buyer to make sure that they ask the right questions, see the puppy, with their mum and in their home environment, and step back if things don’t feel right. Failing to do so can lead to a world of heartache for puppy buyers and keeps rogue breeders in business, whilst puppies continue to suffer the consequences, as this research shows.”