15-hour flight in cargo hold for 120 Pomsky puppies bred for buyers in Singapore
IRISH puppies are being flown across the world to eager buyers, the Irish Mail on Sunday has learned.
In the last year alone 120 dogs were flown to Singapore for commercial purposes.
One breeder of pomsky pups – a cross between a pomeranian and a husky – said he has lost count of the number of dogs he has shipped overseas this year.
Denis Corbett from Katiebrooke Kennels in Limerick said there is global demand for his puppies because his operation is the ‘best’.
Asked how many he has shipped from Limerick this year, Mr Corbett said: ‘How am I supposed to know that? I do my business and I do very well. I haven’t a clue what I sent this year, I never counted them. What we do, we do right.
‘Pups vary in price from €1,000 to €2,500’
That’s all I need to say to you. I have a licence and so everything goes through the books, through the Revenue, everything we do, we do correctly.’
Mr Corbett said he has a waiting list of people looking for pomsky pups, which cost between €1,000 and €2,500 each, and he can arrange to fly the animals around the world at a cost of between €700 and €1,500, depending on the airport. It costs €700 to fly a pup to Rome and €1,600 to Cape Town.
The shortest flight time to Singapore from Dublin with KLM is currently 15 hours, excluding a one-hour stopover in Amsterdam.
Other flight options for the 11,000km journey with additional stopovers bring the travel time to more than 24 hours.
Mr Corbett said that artificial insemination is required to produce a pup from a pomeranian father and husky mother. This procedure is carried out at a facility in Co. Tipperary.
Asked why pomsky pups bred in Ireland have such broad appeal, he said: ‘We are the best, we have the best name. Health.
‘Why pomskies? Why would people buy a Mercedes instead of a Fiesta? That’s personal taste.
‘We have the best name in the world for our kennels. If you buy a dog from a puppy farm or people who do it wrongly, they have all sorts of health problems. That’s why they come to me. I do it right.’
In relation to the cost involved, Mr Corbett said his prices have remained the same in spite of a growing demand for dogs.
‘My pomskies vary from €1,000 to €2,500. If you look back seven years, they were the same price. We don’t breed just for a demand, we have a waiting list and if you go on my website, we have nothing available right now.’
Mr Corbett has reviews from all over the world on his website. One from Singapore reads: ‘We would like to thank Katiebrooke Kennels for bringing the best gift in the world. We had Miya shipped from Ireland and she was in perfect condition.’
Veterinarian Tim Kirby from Petbond gave his view that the practice of breeding a pomeranian with a husky and then flying it around the world is ‘fundamentally flawed’.
‘Not only from an ethical perspective, but from an animal health and welfare perspective,’ he said.
‘You’re crossing two different origins. Their life span is different. It’s not only absurd but it’s wrong. It’s morally wrong, it’s ethically wrong and shouldn’t be allowed.’
Dr Kirby said artificial insemination of dogs is a big issue.
‘There are actually fertility clinics popping up in Scotland in particular where they are doing this more and more,’ he said.
The vet said flying a young dog overseas is stressful and could have adverse effects on their health. ‘Moving a new puppy in a close radius is stressful enough on them and they do lose weight from it, so to even consider shipping them at that age is likely to affect their immune system.’
A spokesman from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine said records from its Regional Veterinary Offices indicate that health certificates have been issued in respect of 144 dogs for movement to Asia in 2020. Of these, 120 certificates were issued in respect of commercial movements, all to Singapore.
‘The Department is actively working towards the issue of publication of the register of sellers and suppliers of pet animals, ensuring that such is compliant with all data protection regulations,’ the spokesman said, adding that it had given funding of nearly €3m to animal welfare organisations since December 2019.
‘It’s morally wrong, it shouldn’t be allowed’