A jack russell puppy looks out of his box to see is there any buyers at the Monivea festival.

Thousands of dogs and puppies are for sale this Christmas on Irish websites, leading to fears that hundreds will be put down in the new year when owners who bought on impulse lose interest.

Last week there were more than 3,000 dog adverts on DoneDeal.ie, almost 800 on Dogs.ie, over 650 on buyandsell.ie and 500 on Gumtree. Each advert generally offers more than one pup for sale.

On offer are pedigree Great Dane puppies (€1,000), St Bernard puppies (€600), Pit Bulls (€700) and pug pups for €500.

Many adverts are also accompanied by taglines including "adorable present" and "will be ready for Christmas".

And it's not just pedigree breeds. One advert is offering two-month-old cross-breed puppies for €300 each and they can be trained before delivery for an additional €80.

However, animal welfare groups are worried about rogue breeders and are calling for more regulation.

Kathrina Bentley, head of communications and campaigns at Dogs Trust Ireland, said: "Our concerns would be, how these puppies are bred and conditions for the breeding female. Was she rested in between litters or was she puppy farmed or puppy milled and constantly bred for profit rather than out of any consideration for welfare?

"Though the majority of adverts are posted by good, legitimate breeders, many of the animals may not have undergone any medical and veterinary checks before their advert is posted," she added.

Gillian Bird of the Dublin Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA) said: "There is no traceability on the online sites. Even if you go to a legitimate breeder, if they have given you a dodgy number there is no guarantee that you will be able to go back to the seller."

Dogs Trust said its focus is to curb "inappropriate or illegal classified adverts."

"In the absence of any government intervention, we aim to work with online advertisers in order to raise the standards of the adverts which are being placed on their sites," said Ms Bentley.

Animal welfare groups and advertising media have been working together to develop "minimum standards" to act as guidance for both sellers and buyers. Together they hope to officially launch the Irish Pet Advertising Advisory Group (IPAAG) early next year.

"It's not ideal but we have to acknowledge that the internet will always be there. People are clicking for instant gratification, so if they buy online today they want it delivered tomorrow," said Ms Bentley.

Groups also want to discourage impulse buying of pups as Christmas gifts.

"They don't seem to realise they are signing up for a 13 or 15-year commitment".

Ms Bird added that the DSPCA rehomed almost 1,000 unwanted dogs this year.

"It starts with the kids getting bored, and then dad gets bored, then mum gets fed up, then the dog gets thrown out into the garden and becomes extremely boisterous because nobody wants to play with it," she said and added that people should give a lot of thought before adding a dog to the family. "The adoption process is the ultimate upcycling. It offers follow-on support of the charity, dog training advice and all sorts of resources for people who need help and it reduces the online demand."

ISPCA chief inspector Conor Dowling said they have taken in 449 dogs this year and many were "severely neglected". "We've had more trouble rehoming puppies than ever before," he said.

Dublin City Council said that from January to September, 508 dogs were taken in by the pound. Of these, 74 were put to sleep. The remainder were reclaimed or rehomed.

Sunday Independent