Battersea backs unregulated puppy import petition

Animal charity Battersea has welcomed a new petition calling on on the government to ban expletive imports of young puppies for sale in the UK, 

The petition, which was set up on parliament’s website, urges the government to “adjust current laws, ban this unethical activity on welfare grounds and protect these poor animals ASAP.”

The petition said: “Plenty of dogs from UK breeders and rescues need homes. Transporting young pups long distances is often stressful, before being sold for ridiculous prices to unsuspecting dog-lovers,” the petition also reads.

“The recent tragic case of a puppy dying just six days after being delivered from Russia has exposed a completely legal but immoral route to market for pups bred hundreds of miles away and sold away from their mums.”

Commenting on the petition, Battersea said it “sadly knows all too well the pain caused by the cruel puppy trade.”

It said: “Both the suffering endured by the animals involved and the heartbreak their new owners feel, as we and rescue centres across the country are forced to pick up the pieces. We support all moves that would end this suffering, and continue to regularly raise potential solutions with the government.

“Recent legislation introduced in England means it is illegal for anyone other than a breeder to sell kittens and puppies. However, people are still able to buy puppies online from outside England and from abroad and have them imported, with few regulations around this – meaning that, in many cases, they are inadvertently supporting a brutal and cruel trade.”

The charity added: “The pets they receive at the end of this buying chain may be incredibly unwell, too young to be separated from their mothers and under-socialised due to the conditions in which they were bred and imported, leaving owners confused, distressed, disappointed and usually significantly out of pocket.”