Eastern European Puppies in pet shops - London

As feared the laxing of the Pet Travel Scheme has encouraged a pet shop licence holder to purchase puppies from Eastern Europe.  One such pet shop Aardvark Kennels in Newham, East London during the last week has advertised six different breeds of puppies sold with Pet Passports.

The Eastern European puppy trade and puppy trafficking is equally as despicable as puppy farming in Wales and the Irish Republic by licensed and unlicensed commercial breeders where most pet shop licence holders source their puppies from.

Puppies arriving in the UK from Eastern Europe to enable them to have Pet Passport must be microchiped prior to receiving a vaccinaton against rabies and tapeworm treatment by a vet, all details must be entered on the puppies Pet Passport.  As the puppy is normally 12 weeks of age when the last rabies vaccine is administered te puppy must wait a further 21 days in its country of residence.   This means the puppy is nearly 4 months of age before it can arrive in the UK.

By this age a puppy should be house trained and socialised but these puppies have missed the most important short window for mental and social development of between 6 and 14 weeks of age due to remaining on the breeders premises, travelling from an Eastern European country to the UK and then waiting to be sold in a pet shop.  A pet shop offers no practical stimulation for the puppies, most are not even provided with a toy to play with by the owner.  Like all puppies sold in pet shops, according to their sellers they are supposed to be suitable to become companion animals - family pets.   Yet neither purchaser or shop owner will have any knowledge of health status of the puppies parents, the premises the puppy was bred in, the care of the puppy from birth until it travelled at 15 weeks of age or later from Slovakia to London. 

The puppies trauma does not end there it is then deposited in a bare, barren pet shop with nothing of interest but blank walls.  The pet shop environment lacks the  proper care and stimulus required to ensure that the puppies life is enriched whilst waiting to be sold, the longer this continues the more chance the puppy will suffer from nervousness with the possibilty of behaviour and temperament problems. 

The puppy trade and puppy trafficking is is detrimental to animal welfare.

Puppies should not be allowed to b sold from pet shops or any pet shop licence holders premises.

The purchase of puppies from pet shops is never advisable and should be discouraged.

Newham Council as the licensing authourity for Aardvark Kennels and London Prestige Puppies should place extra conditions on all their pet shop licences restricting where their licence holders can purchase puppies from.     

All campaigning groups including the Dogs Trust, Kennel Club, Puppy Love Campaigns to name but a few are requesting that puppies should not be sold from pet shops or dealers. If you feel the same please write to your MP and Defra Animal Welfare department.