PUPPY LOVE
Stars vow to end the cruel import trade
The Mirror is backing calls to ban what is described as a “legal but immoral” route to market for young puppies bred up to thousands of miles away in horrific conditions, removed from their mothers too early and then sold to unsuspecting British customers.
Currently, the animals need to be at least 15 weeks old before they are allowed into the UK.
We are calling for this age to be raised to at least six months, which campaigners believe will make border checks easier to enforce as the puppies’ permanent teeth will have come through by then.
By raising the import age by just 11 weeks, it would therefore be easier to identify those that are too young, especially as often paperwork is easily faked from countries such as Russia, Hungary, and Romania.
Campaigners also believe the move would effectively put a huge dent in the market, as most buyers don’t want puppies advertised as six months or older, with the majority of breeders less keen to keep pups on their establishments for that long either.
Celebrities this week praised the Mirror for formally endorsing the campaign, which was started by Lucy Parkinson, from Preston, Lancashire, whose Government e-petition has attracted more than 66,000 signatures in just two weeks.
She is being supported by celebrity vet Marc Abraham, who spearheaded Lucy’s Law, which banned the thirdparty sale of puppies and kittens in England – an important welfare campaign the Mirror also proudly backed.
TV mogul Simon
Cowell said: “I totally support the Mirror’s campaign. Dogs are our best friends.
“It breaks my heart to think of puppies being treated badly and in appalling conditions – while people make money from them.
“We must do anything we can to stop this happening.”
And Grease singer Dame Olivia Newton-John said: “I am appalled to learn about the horrible conditions and treatment of puppies being imported into the UK from breeders with no compassion or love for these dogs – only greed.
“Cruelty to animals is hideous beyond imagination and this needs to be stopped immediately.”
Strictly star Shirley Ballas added: “I am in total support of the Mirror’s campaign. It breaks my heart to think of these tiny animals being treated so badly just for money. All must be done to stop these puppy farms in their tracks.”
Pop superstar Ellie Goulding also lent her support. She said: “It’s a very good thing to be doing... what’s happening sounds terrible and I’m absolutely against cruelty to all animals.” Lucy’s petition took off after the death of Pomeranian puppy Mr Chai belonging to heartbroken Love Island couple Molly-Mae Hague and Tommy Fury. It had travelled 3,500 miles by plane and car from Russia, via a UK breeder to its unsuspecting new owners. The breeder who organised the delivery said they used “reputable” breeders in Russia. But the tragedy shone a light on how dogs born in Russia are being transported and sold in the UK after demand for puppies rocketed in lockdown. Despite the Government’s own advice to always physically “see puppies interacting with their mothers in their place of birth”, this
process is entirely legal as the dog is sold via an agent and then delivered straight to the customer’s door, involving no licensed [inspected] breeding or selling premises in the UK.
It means the puppies are often transported under the Pet Travel Scheme, which stipulates that the puppies must be at least 15 weeks old, with a valid pet passport and vaccinations, including rabies.
A Mirror investigation last month laid bare the horrific conditions endured by some puppies imported in this way from Russia.
We told how up to five dogs at a time endure 48 hours of travel by air and road with a “nanny” who brings them over in a cramped cage. Longhaired puppies must often be shaved so their fur is less matted by excrement and urine from their long journeys.
The dogs are often “cleaned up” in a UK bolthole before being given to innocent customers.
Puppies are sourced from across Russia for as little as £300 and then sold on in the UK for as much as £6,000 – and the paperwork is at best unreliable and often fake.
Marc Abraham previously said of our investigation: “By the time they get to the end of their journey in England, they are a ticking time bomb of potentially life-threatening diseases. And, even if they survive – some will die on route or shortly after arriving. They will most likely have reduced life expectancy and require all sorts of potential therapies to fix them, whether that’s behavioural, medical treatments or surgical operations.
“And that’s just the pups. Imagine what condition their mums are in back in the puppy farms where there is zero breeder accountability?”
Campaigners have taken heart from last week’s decision by the Canadian government to temporarily cancel import permits for commercial puppies travelling from Ukraine that are less than eight months old.
It followed the death of 38 French bulldog puppies being legally imported in the hold of a flight from Kiev to Toronto on June 13, by Ukraine International Airlines.