World’s most expensive dog turned out to be a hoax. Abusive breeding is still very real

In India, Rs 50 crore could possibly sterilise and provide vaccinations for approximately 1,00,000 street dogs.

The media lapped up the story, without any verification, the headlines celebrated the “World’s most expensive dog”; no one thought to say: “Another puppy emerges from the cruel breeding industry.”

There was no mention of Cadabom’s mother or father, where he was bred, or under what ethical and practical standards he was bred.

I am sure it was not a love story of a wolf meeting a Caucasian shepherd dog. It rarely is when it comes to breeding. Fake or real, this story represents the hidden suffering of millions of female dogs: forcibly bred, artificially inseminated, and reduced to nothing more than reproductive machines.

Ask a breeder to show you the mother, and you’ll likely be turned away. Because she’s kept in a backyard, a basement, a cage, or a locked room. Her suffering is made invisible for profit.

What dog or living being wants to constantly be pregnant? As a woman, just trying to put myself in her place makes me go cold. She does not have a choice and is treated like a reproduction machine. I am sure every woman reading this will empathise, some men too, perhaps. And as for the male dogs, they are equally helpless. Breeding is a stressful process and most likely their environs are no better than their female counterparts.

The cruelty doesn’t end there. The newborn pups get taken away too soon, often at less than 45 days old. They’re transported in the most inhuman ways to homes. Millions of dogs are suffering at the hands of breeders, who have turned them into items for sale, and little else.

The breeders cater to people who haven’t undergone any screening or education process before getting a pet, who may not have given a single thought as to why they want a dog, and who might even one day abandon them because of busy schedules, behavioural challenges, illnesses, or lack of money. According to a 2019 survey, .

Their mothers sacrificed their lives to give birth to them, they were taken away even before they were medically and legally allowed to be weaned off, and put into cardboard boxes and transported in buses and barren cages, all to be abandoned.
And all of this? It fuels a pet industry at $10.5 billion in 2024, and growing. An industry that encompasses pet food, accessories, and increasingly privatised veterinary care, all built upon the backs of animals treated as commodities.

And what do we do to stop this? Too often, nothing. Instead, we blame the dogs. Meanwhile, the breeders, the pet shops, and even some veterinarians continue unhindered with unregulated practices and “business as usual”.

The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Pet Shop) Rules 2018 and The Dog Breeding and Marketing Rules 2017 brought in to regulate this very sector are far from being properly implemented. If nothing else, this needs to change.

We have the laws, what we don’t have is the data—registered or unregistered breeders and pet shops, number of pets being sold or bought, pets registered. All this information is crucial to act.

This entire story of Cadabom, should be a wake-up call.

While 70 million dogs roam our streets, we should no longer turn a blind eye to their suffering, only to perpetuate the cycle. This story is a stark reminder of what is happening in India, that with an increase in income, people are paying higher amounts, for more exotic breeds, to be showstoppers and party gossip for a while, only for the animal to end up on the street.

Every puppy I have ever seen has wanted to run, play, tumble, make a royal mess, and in his or her own time, make a mark on the world.

Which brings us back to Cadabom Okami. If he’s real, what might he want?

He might want to run wild and free in the mountains, as his ancestors once did. He might want a pack, a purpose, a place that doesn’t involve flashbulbs and cages. But Cadabom will never know that freedom. That’s the terrible truth of this story, and it’s why we must do all that we can to change course.

(Edited by Theres Sudeep)