Buying the puppy or kitten to take care of and love is not always the easiest thing to do when trying to figure out where to buy one. In Ukraine, potential pet owners are more likely to start hunting for the breed they want at a local bazaar, rather than seek out an elite nursery.
Specialists say that buying a pedigree will cost the owner more than a mixed breed animal, but the extra expense will pay off, since pedigrees have fewer health and behavioral problems.
One expert asserted that buying a quality pet is no different than buying a quality refrigerator or television, for which people go to specialized shops, and a bazaar is no place for buying a dog or cat.
At Kyiv’s pet bazaar Ptychy Rynok, animals are kept in cages in the heat and the cold. Often, animals are taken from their mothers at too early an age, which causes them to have digestion problems throughout their lives. According to the expert, it is normal practice among pet dealers to underfeed kittens to make them look younger. Also, most of the animals at a bazaar are too young to be vaccinated. Meanwhile, hundreds of people a day pet them, which easily makes them irritable and possibly sick with various diseases.
Another expert said that behavioral problems could be inbred into animals by incompetent breeders in Ukraine. They do not know breeding standards and breed characteristics, but look to make breeding their business, the expert said.
Mistakes in breeding can result in genetic disruptions, one of which is unmotivated aggression, for dogs and cats alike. But if an aggressive cat is simply annoying, an aggressive dog can be deadly.
Finally, you must also be wary of buying a supposed pedigree pet from a random vendor, since you could find out – at a show, for instance – that the documents certifying the pet’s purebred status are forged and your pet is a half‑breed.
Now the buying part
The best pedigree pet sellers to buy from are those acknowledged by the international organizations the World Cat Federation (WCF) and the International Canine Federation (ICF). The alternative, according to experts, is professional breeders who have been on the market for at least several years and have a proven track record.
You can meet a professional breeder at a pedigree exhibit, through a specialized magazine or through a recommendation from a large organization that unites pedigree breeders.
Pan Kotsky is Kyiv’s largest and oldest pedigree cat center, cooperating with nurseries that specialize in 29 cat breeds. For $50 to $100 you can buy a guaranteed healthy kitten, who is socially adapted (not wild), with settled nutritional habits and potty‑trained.
For dogs, everything depends on which breed you want. The best option is addressing the Kyiv center of Ukraine’s Kennel Union. The center has a large data base of breeders of most breeds in Ukraine – over 80 – and abroad. The center’s experts will help you pick the breed that suits you best, and inform you about the specifics of your pet’s upkeep.
– Anna Kozmina
Pan Kotsky. National Nature and Science Museum, 15 Bohdana Khmelnytskoho, 4th fl., room 12, 476‑5828. Wed, Thu, Sat 1 p.m.‑5 p.m.
Ukraine’s Kennel Union, Kyiv Center. 12 Klovsky Uzviz, office 3, 290‑5074. Free consultations Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri 2 p.m.‑7 p.m.
Sources for breeders’ advertisements: www.pet.kiev.ua, Magazines “Mir Sobak”, “Tvoyo Sobachye Delo” and “Zoo‑Fito”.
