‘BITTERSWEET MILESTONE’ FOR CHARITY’S PUPPY PROJECT
Meet Befa, the 1,500th puppy rehomed through Dogs Trust’s Puppy Pilot scheme. The five-week-old Springer Spaniel was found hidden, along with four other puppies, in a van intercepted at Dover earlier this year.
Seized before they could be delivered to unsuspecting UK owners, these illegally imported puppies had been transported thousands of miles from Slovakia.
Sadly, within three days of arriving, Dachshund Lady Longlegs, Springer Spaniel Alla, and Labrador Aaron, died of parvovirus.
But Befa and Labrador puppy Tara survived, thanks to the charity’s care, and have since been responsibly rehomed.
Dogs Trust fears many more puppies will slip through the net unless the government takes urgent action to end this cruel trade.
The charity wants the minimum age for puppies entering the UK raised to six months and penalties increased for smugglers.
Set up in 2015 to help government body the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) intercept illegally imported puppies, the scheme rescued 66 per cent more dogs in 2020 compared to the previous year.
The most common breed seized was the Dachshund, followed by French Bulldogs and English Bulldogs, with puppies mainly coming from Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
According to APHA statistics, the number of dogs being commercially imported into the UK has risen by 50 per cent due to lockdown. For more information, visit www.dogstrust.org.uk/puppypilot