Government challenged to ‘put money where mouth is’ on puppy smuggling

The chairman of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (EFRACom), which is looking into puppy smuggling in the UK, has challenged the Government to “put its money where its mouth is” to stamp out the “cruel and unscrupulous industry”.

Neil Parish MP said: “Defra’s new ‘Petfished’ campaign is a great example of the steps Government can take to improve animal welfare in the UK. The illegal smuggling of puppies is a cruel and unscrupulous industry – and we need to make sure the Government takes tough measures to stamp it out.

“While Defra clearly supports the committee’s views on this horrible practice, it needs to put its money where its mouth is. If we really want puppies to be protected, there need to be sensible pet travel regulations, and authorities need to be given appropriate funding and powers to stop smugglers.”

Tighter regulations

In November, EFRACom called on the Government to tighten regulations to protect very young animals from potential abuse.

Based on evidence the committee took from leading charities and vets, a letter from Mr Parish raised serious concerns about the practice of illegal smuggling puppies into the UK, often as a result of spikes in demand for fashionable dog breeds.

In response, Lord Goldsmith, minister of state at Defra, has pointed out the department has:

• launched a £225,000 campaign to raise public awareness over unscrupulous sellers of puppies and kittens
• launched the Petfished strategy
• raised concerns about the minimum age requirement for puppy travel, recommending it should be raised from 15 weeks to 6 months

Pet travel arrangements

However, the Government has “no immediate plans” to change pet travel arrangements, but raised the opportunity for future “robust controls” arising from the UK’s exit from the EU.

The minister also confirmed that Border Force has not published formal targets or performance indicators for the interception of smuggled pets, and no specific funding was provided to either Border Force or local authorities to tackle domestic animal smuggling in the past five years.