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   REGISTERED pedigree Labrador puppies for sale! Eight weeks and six weeks old.Will deliver anywhere across Scotland.

Other breeds also available. At first glance, this may read like a perfectly normal advert - the sort that could easily appear in the classified section of the Evening News. But to the trained eye of a Scottish SPCA inspector or an educated buyer, this sort of advert spells only one thing: puppy dealing.

Puppy dealing is big business in Scotland.Pedigree pups can cost between £200 and £1000, and the demand for them is on the increase. Unfortunately, buyers tend to focus on the cute puppy they see, rather than thinking about where that puppy may have come from or considering the illegal industry they are supporting.

Proposed new legislation is currently being drawn up to crack down on disreputable dealers, but the Scottish SPCA believes those with the real power to stop this trade are members of the public. That is why the Scottish SPCA has this week launched a new hard-hitting leaflet and education campaign to show people the dangers of buying from disreputable puppy dealers. The real problem with puppy dealing stems from an inconsistency between the law in Scotland relating to the breeding and sale of dogs, and other places such as Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

In Scotland, anyone wishing to commercially breed dogs must be licensed by the local authority.A condition of this licence is that certain basic animal welfare standards must be met, including limits on the number and frequency of litters. So far so good.

But often, dealers buy puppies from puppy farms in Ireland or elsewhere, where no licence is needed for commercial breeding then transport them, often in terrible conditions, for sale in Scotland and even further afield. Young puppies are extremely vulnerable animals, and are susceptible to diseases like gastroenteritis, pneumonia and the deadly parvovirus.Cruel dealers sell them either in lay-bys, out of their car boots, or take them to licensed rearing establishments.

Licensed rearing establishments you say? Surely a licensed establishment will offer these poor pups the protection they need? Unfortunately not.There is nothing illegal about stocking a "rearing" establishment, which is licensed under breeding legislation, with puppies brought in from unlicensed puppy farms.And that is why the law needs changing.

The Scottish SPCA urges prospective puppy owners to do their bit to help.Try to see the puppy with its mother before agreeing to buy it.Never agree to meet a vendor anywhere other than at the premises where the puppy is kept, and don't buy a puppy simply to save it from a miserable existence.

Remember, the Scottish SPCA care for thousands of dogs each year that are desperate for a good, loving home, so why not try a rescued dog? .

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Read article at news.scotsman.com