Bought online as a Xmas gift! (Video)

If you are an animal lover, you know that dogs are a lifelong commitment. They are not ‘disposable.’ However, each Christmas, people purchase puppies as gifts and give them to owners that can’t or shouldn’t care for them. The phrase “A dog is for life and not just for Christmas” is a universal truth. No story makes that more starkly clear than that of Ronnie, the adorable puppy who became the first dog of 2018 to be dumped at a rescue home. Mongrel Ronnie was left at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home in south London on January 2. His owner – whose ex-partner bought him online – left him there after they split and he became homeless. The owner was therefore unable to look after the little pupper, so he became the first pet to be dropped off so far this year.

When Steven Craddock, the shelter’s owner, first met Ronnie, he was saddened to think that he was abandoned so soon. Although, this day in age, he’s unfortunately not surprised. “It doesn’t shock any of us that the first dog through our doors in 2018 was bought online,” Steven said. “Ronnie is just one of many thousands of dogs who will be bought off an unregulated website in the coming months and end up in a home where the owner is unprepared and unable to take proper care of them. His new owner did the right thing by bringing him into us where we can look after him and find him a loving new home, which we doubt will take long as he’s such a lovely boy. However, this doesn’t change the fact that he never should have been sold online in the first place.”

Taken from his family much too early!

Sadly, the veterinary staff believes that Ronnie was taken from his family much too early and probably sold by a breeder with no regard for anything but a profit. One of the biggest problems faced by animal welfare advocates is online dog sales. Steven hopes that Ronnie’s story will help urge people to seriously consider the huge responsibility dog ownership entails. This is also a reminder to adopt dogs and puppies from shelters, instead of purchasing them online from inhumane breeders. The shelter has received an overwhelming response from potential adopters, and once they pick the perfect owner, he’ll have his forever home. Watch the video, with a face like that, it’s no surprise so many people want to take him in!