Disturbing parody ad shines light on cruel puppy farms

What starts like an ad for a new must-have soft toy for children, quickly becomes a much darker look at the cruel practice of puppy farming.

The disturbing video is part of a new campaign from the International Fund for Animal Welfare, which hopes to educate the public on avoiding unscrupulous breeders and dealers.

"Puppies from these low welfare breeders and puppy farms often suffer from serious illness and all too commonly even an early death," the IWAF wrote on their Youtube page.

To illustrate the point, the mock-ad features a little girl's puppy getting sick with the parvo virus, conjunctivitis and diarrhoea before dying.

The IFAW is hoping that this campaign will get people to ensure their new puppy doesn't come from a farm.

The organisation advises prospective owners to meet the puppy's mother, check if it's reached the legal age for sale, look at the animal's papers and then search for signs of sickness.