Dogs: Smuggling
(asked on 6th January 2023) - View Source
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the number of puppies smuggled into Great Britain each year; and what steps she is taking to prevent puppy smuggling.
Answered by
Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
APHA does not hold specific data on the total number of puppies illegally smuggled into Great Britain each year.
APHA seized 691 puppies in 2021 and 264 puppies in 2022 which landed in Dover and were not compliant with our import requirements.
The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill includes measures to tackle puppy smuggling. The Bill was re-introduced to the House of Commons in May 2022.