• Dogs Trust report finds underage puppies and pregnant bitches forced to travel over 1000 miles across Europe and into the UK in sickening conditions
• Undercover investigation reveals corrupt vets providing falsified pet passports and fake vaccination stamps for underage puppies
• North Tyneside MP has pledged her support to stop this cruel trade
This week Mary Glindon MP attended a drop-in session hosted by Dogs Trust at the House of Commons where the charity was asking MPs to join its campaign to end the cruel practice of puppy smuggling. This follows a fourth undercover investigation launched by Dogs Trust last year, which exposed the magnitude and ease of trade routes into the UK for European smugglers and highlighted the significant opportunity the government has to redraw the UK’s pet travel rules [currently regulated by EU legislation] and end this cruel trade.
Dogs Trust has been investigating this problem since 2014 with its reports revealing shocking evidence of the Pet Travel Scheme (PETS) being exploited by illegal puppy importers. The charity’s fourth report supplies further evidence of corrupt vets in Central and Eastern Europe falsifying documents for underage puppies to be brought into Great Britain; pregnant dogs being smuggled so their puppies can be born in the UK and lax border controls.
Dogs Trust has long been calling for changes to be introduced to put a stop to the continued and growing abuse of PETS and is asking MPs to support their call.
Mary said: “Dogs Trust has unveiled a horrendous trade that has been growing over the past few years and we now have the opportunity to make a positive change to stop this practice. I’ve been shocked by the findings of all four of the reports and am proud to support the case to bring an end to puppy smuggling with the introduction of tighter controls and the need for much stronger penalties to deter this horrific crime.”
To find out more visit www.puppysmuggling.org.uk