It is only twelve days since the rules changed on bringing pets into the UK and the worst possible scenario has just happened.
A web site has been offering any breed of dog for £250.00 delivered to a lay-by near Dover. The first shipment arrived from Bulgaria, one of the countries with the highest level of rabies in the EU.
One of the ‘customers’ of this web site met the van at the lay-by along with lots of other people, paid his money and chose his dog. A seven week old puppy. He took it to the vet the next day with the paper work he had been given to be told that the passport was not a real one, there was no chip and that a puppy of that age could not possibly be vaccinated against rabies.
A quarantine kennel was called and the puppy taken in to custody. DEFRA was called and it appears that after a certain time at the port there are no DEFRA staff – the van arrived one hour after the office had closed and was able to pass through without any checks. How interesting is that!
There are now several dogs somewhere in the UK that are in homes from this shipment who may or may not be rabies carriers.
The ‘customer’ does not want the puppy back and has been offered another one from the next shipment – which is next month.
This is just one case of this that we know about because of the puppy being taken to the vet who realised what he was handling. There are probably many more we don’t know about.
There are many implications and moral issues here that we should all be aware of.
1. That there are people out there who are stupid enough to purchase a un seen, unknown puppy from a web site from a country that has a high incidence of rabies without even thinking through the implications. These animals have been purchased just as you might purchase a cheap item from any website in the hope of a bargain. Just like counterfeit designer goods.
2. These puppies are taken from their mothers and transported in backs of vans long distances by clearly unscrupulous traders. This is cruel and what is more what happens to any pups that are not collected? Think that one through and if you love dogs and cry.
3. The animals are now in the country and yours or my pet may encounter them and we have no idea if these animals are rabies carriers.
4. These animals may be dumped as the ‘customers’ being the idiots that they are may find they ‘don’t like’ the animal. They have never seen its parents or ‘it’ before the handover, so this is highly likely. Then the rescues, the dog pounds, the dog wardens, the other animals in the rescues and the people who care and rescue animals are all put at risk.
5. This scenario only has to happen once and the whole ethos of pet ownership in the UK will change if we have an outbreak of rabies.
6. And finally think of that poor puppy aged only seven weeks in the quarantine kennel. Not wanted, with no future unless some kind soul wants to take on the responsibility of yet another dog brought into this country which is full of unwanted dogs needing homes urgently. It might be the first we know of but it won’t be the last by a long, long way.
We at RabiesalertUK are not giving up please sign our new petition. We need to make sure that this government and DEFRA know what they have done. There can be no more excuses and reasons given why we have to fall in with the EU over the Pet Passport regulations. This is nothing to do with the quarantine kennel trade it is to do with all of us and affects us all. This has proved absolutely that there are people out there that are willing to flout the law. They do not care about the animals or you. Rabies injections maybe more reliable than they were (as stated by the Chief Government Vet on BBC Breakfast TV on 29th Dec 11) but he does not take into account the criminal activities of these dog traders. He is talking of a perfect world where everyone abides by the law.
Sign our petition now at http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/27096
make our country and our pets safe. Stand up and be counted if you love your animals and your kids and your life as you have known it and do not live like other countries do avoiding pets, flinching at the sight of a dog. This is not a way to live and we in the UK do not want it here.
Visit us on http://rabiesalertUK/blogspot.com/
and read more.
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