TAX CRACKDOWN ON THE PUP PEDDLERS

NEW TASKFORCE SET TO TARGET FORTUNES MADE BY CRUEL PET TRADERS

There’s massive evidence of up to 100,000 puppies coming out of Ireland annually

Scotland’s worst puppy t raders are being targeted by the taxman in a massive clampdown.

The multi-million-pound purge by a special ly convened HM Revenue and Customs taskforce follows a huge operation which has seen several dealers dragged through the courts for breaching animal cruelty laws.

The Sunday Mai l can now identify some of those who will have to pay up to £500,000 in tax demands or face having their assets seized by the Crown.

Robert Brownlie, Christopher Gorman and Lauren Cullivan are among those to be identified as prime targets by the taxman.

Each have been earmarked for six-figure tax demands, based on intelligence gathered by police and animal cruelty investigators from Scotland, England and Ireland.

British tax authorities, who refuse to discuss their operations, have enlisted Irish counterparts to home in on massive payments from targets who have fled back to the Republic, where most of the UK puppy trade is generated.

A source said: “Operation Delphin was set up to crack down on the flow of designer puppies from Ireland to ports in the UK, with Cairnryan a main thoroughfare.

“European laws make it difficult to legal ly move very young pups in any case but there was still massive evidence emerging of up to 10 0,0 0 0 dogs c oming out of Ireland annually.

“There could be more than £50million in unpaid taxes due and very little of that has been paid. It’s believed the taskforce have identified a lot more cash than they were anticipating.

“A lot of the cash is reckoned to be connected to organised crime. Those responsible will be having to cough up or face a legal minef ield in disproving what the taxman says they’re due.”

HMRC can use criminal or civil laws to recover undeclared tax.

Scottish dealers are known to have bought pups for between €100 and € 300 but managed to sell them on for up to €1500 – with many suffering terrible health problems or even dying later due to poor breeding conditions.

At the upper estimate of 100,000 puppies being trafficked to the UK, the turnover for dealers could be an incredible £150million.

Andrew Kelly, chief executive of the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA), said: “Over the last 12 months, several hundred puppies have been seized at Cairnryan and Holyhead ports.

“These puppies are often too young to be removed from their mothers and are vulnerable to