Sick Puppy Industry Revealed by JWT and IFAW

Yesterday, London’s MPs received gifts from ad agency JWT London in the form of a toy dog called Suzy Puppy.

This might sound like a strange present to send to politicians but the gesture was part of a larger campaign to encourage the government to protect puppies in the UK, as they’re increasingly under threat from low welfare breeders and puppy farms where there’s little consideration for their health.

This move ran in tandem to the PUPS campaign for the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) that launched on Tuesday (below).

PUPS is an initiative that aims to encourage potential owners to think twice when purchasing a puppy by spelling out the different factors that buyers should consider pre-purchase (below).

IFAW is committed to improving the selling standards of puppies in the UK and has partnered with various national NGOs to raise awareness of the campaign as well as approached various London toy shops to stock the Suzy Puppy toys.

In the spot helmed by Sophia Ray, a young girl is very excited when she gets a puppy but then things quickly turn awry when the pup becomes ill and eventually dies.

While the message may be rather morbid, IFAW and JWT hope it will educate potential buyers on what to look out for and in turn, help to reduce the demand for irresponsibly bred puppies – and toughen up the sale of them.

“We need legislative change, so a cute, flea-ridden pup with parvovirus and conjunctivitis is the perfect lobbyist," says JWT’s creative director David Masterman.