A little less certainty, please

Shooting Times recently ran an item on its news pages in which it reported on the introduction of a new code to govern the advertising of dogs for sale. The code, launched by the Pet Advertising Advisory Group, sets minimum standards aimed at promoting animal welfare whilst seeking to protect the public against unscrupulous sellers, especially when buying online. Beneath this item there was another, pointing out to the magazine’s readers that they could avoid the perils of buying from online advertisers by referring instead to the small ads pages of Shooting Times.

Classified advertisement manager, Emma van deer Veen, assured advertisers that using the magazine to find homes for their puppies meant they could be “certain that they are reaching readers who understand the needs of a working dog”. Whilst it is common sense that the readers of Shooting Times are more likely to fit this description, we wonder on what Ms Veen bases her apparent certainty? After all, Shooting Times makes no attempt to check up on the credentials of those advertising dogs for sale and it is clearly impossible for it to vet the buyers.