INVESTIGATES

ALMOST 1,200 smuggled puppies have been seized at UK borders in just two years, the Sunday Mirror can reveal.

We uncovered the figure after an undercover charity probe publicised an appalling trade in designer dogs by ruthless foreign crooks.

Vehicle-loads of tiny pups – many far younger than the ages on their paperwork – are transported here from Eastern Europe in heartbreaking states of distress.

The trade is masterminded by criminals cashing in on the craze for pedigree pets seen on telly reality shows and for owners desperate to show off their cute pooches on Instagram.

Most of the dogs were found abandoned at ports in sweltering lorries, drugged to sneak them past checkpoints.

Many were too young to legally enter the country and few were vaccinated against serious diseases like rabies and tapeworm.

Dogs Trust campaigner Paula Boyden says the legislation designed to protect animals is failing adding: “Illegally importing puppies needs to end now. We urge the Government to increase the penalties.”

We obtained figures from the Government’s Animal and Plant Health Agency under freedom of information laws.

The figures show that in the two years to January, 1,117 illegal puppies were intercepted in the UK.

A complete breakdown of where all the pups were seized was not available but well over half were found at two major ports in Kent – 377 at Dover and 360 at the Channel Tunnel entry point in Folkestone. It means on average almost two illegal puppies a day are being smuggled on to our shores.

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