Animal welfare: New plans to help prevent dog cruelty

The government is proposing new rules which could help tackle puppy smuggling and prevent cruelty to dogs.

The aim of the plans is to help look after the welfare of the thousands of dogs and puppies which are brought into the UK each year.

The plans include increasing the minimum age at which puppies can be imported - brought in to the country - from 15 weeks to six months.

There would also be a ban on importing dogs with cropped ears or docked tails, and dogs which are heavily pregnant.

More than 66,000 dogs were commercially imported into the UK last year, but the government's Environment Department (Defra) says evidence shows that there has been a recent rise in animals imported in low-welfare conditions and smuggling activity.

In 2020, 843 young puppies were intercepted - or seized- for not meeting the UK's pet import rules. In 2019 that number was less than half, at just 324.

Animal welfare charity, the RSPCA, has also recently reported a 620% rise in reports of dogs found to have their ears cropped in the past five years.

Ear cropping is a painful process which has been banned in the UK since 2006 - it involves surgically altering or removing a dog's outer ears to make them look more aggressive. The majority of these dogs are thought to have undergone the procedure abroad. The new rules would mean they'd be banned from entering the country.

RSPCA chief executive, Chris Sherwood, said: "These are major dog welfare issues that need addressing as a matter of urgency in order to protect dogs from unnecessary suffering and to protect the public from falling victim to criminals who are trying to cash in on these dogs' value."

These puppies were rescued and are now being looked after by the Dogs Trust

Cases of cruel treatment seen here in the UK include six underage puppies being seized at the port of Dover - they were covered in sticky oil and were unwell. They'd been imported illegally from Romania and had travelled in the back of a van for more than 24 hours.

In another incident, four beagle puppies - thought to have been brought in illegally from the Republic of Ireland - were found abandoned in a vehicle in London. They were only eight weeks old and hadn't been looked after properly.

Befa is a rescue dog - she's now being looked after by the RSCPA

One of the new rules could be a higher minimum age for puppies being brought to the UK, which should help make sure young dogs aren't separated from their mums too early, which can put them at higher risk of getting ill or even dying.

Lord Goldsmith, Animal Welfare Minister, said: "Puppy-smuggling is a grim trade, and we are determined to clamp down on it.

"Raising the minimum import age for puppies will help protect thousands of animals that are brought into the country each year and stop criminals looking to profit from the rise in demand for pets."

The Dogs Trust has cared for more than 2000 puppies since 2015 which have been seized at UK borders.

The charity's chief executive, Owen Sharp, said: "We have seen puppies as young as four weeks old being smuggled into the country and dogs with open wounds from ear cropping as well as heavily pregnant dogs close to giving birth.

"We are pleased that the consultation has set out proposals to tackle these issues and hope it results in tougher penalties for these crimes, as currently only a handful of cases have ever been prosecuted and the existing penalties are, sadly, no deterrent."

A consultation will now be held on the government's plans.