APHA figures on legally imported dogs from Serbia and Bosnia

Every Serbia rescue dog in the UK is illegal

That's quite a statement to make and at the time of doing so, that is what I genuinely believed. After researching, speaking with people both here and across Europe, I could not find anybody importing dogs correctly.

Today, I have to correct myself and admit I was wrong, in fact 99.55% of Serbian dogs in the UK are here illegally!

Over time, it became clear to me that nobody advertising Serbian rescue dogs for rehoming was bringing them out in accordance with the Serbian and UK regulations. So I submitted a freedom of information  request and waited for the reply. 

A quick recap on the regulations - 

1)rescue dogs are classed as commercial goods as their movement is for the purpose of transfer of ownership. They CAN NOT come out on pet passport schemes.

2)for non EU countries, regulations differ but include Bosnia, 3 week quarantine, rabies vaccination then leave from a registered facility. Serbia, rabies vaccination, titer, total 4 month wait and leave from a registered facility.

3)dogs should be checked by a vet before travel for fitness and health, if they pass, they receive a health certificate and commercial export certificate.

4)dogs must enter the EU through a brder inspection point of the nearest EU country. They must present to the border vet for examination before being given a certificate allowing them to be put on EU traces and then they must travel directly to the UK on the same vehicle, no 
diversions.

These regulations are there for a reason. Firstly, to ensure animals are not injured, ill of in pain before being crammed in a cage for up to 5 days! Secondly, to ensure the animal is healthy and minimise diseases entering the UK and provide trace ability. Thirdly, to check the documentation is legitimate and vaccinations have been carried out as stated on the passport.
It's been a tough few months during which I have heard just about every excuse in the book regards trafficking. A common one is that rescue "deluded" knows their dogs are properly prepared despite not following the procedures above so they don't see it as being illegal, it's the fault of Bosnia or Serbia for having such draconian regulations and not just letting the dogs leave the country. 
All I have to say to that is how many people believed Dejan would never do anything illegal? That changed to, he might have brought them in without the correct paperwork because it's the only way they could leave but the dogs were all vaccinated and wormed. As we now know, Dejan did not give a jot about the dogs, he dumped dogs when he could't sell them, he lied abuot the circumstances dogs were found in, he cut corners everywhere he could and he is despised in the Serbian animal welfare world. So personally, I do not believe that anybody can guarantee the dogs are properly prepared and you are putting your trust in a person you have never met, researched or know anything about except what they decide to say and show on social media.

Many of the rescuers in Serbia and Bosnia are also involved in criminal activity, from drug dealing, to knife crime, it's a very murky world out there and the minority of (and they are definitely the minority) of genuine rescuers sending to the UK on Facebook, will all suffer because of the actions of others.


Based on the activity of rescuers and figures provided by some charities and rescues bringing dogs from Serbia, there were approximately 4,000 dogs imported between 2014-2018. I requested information on the number of dogs coming from Serbia on Traces with Serbia as the country of origin (in other words, legally), the response from APHA was:

In the period from 01/01/2014 to 27/06/2018 TRACES recorded that there were 14 dogs that entered the UK from Serbia. This data was extracted from TRACES using the Data Warehouse facility.

The breakdown by year is as follows: 

2014 – 1 
2015 – 3 
2016 – 8 
2017 -  2  

I also requested the figures for Bosnian dogs leaving correctly via the Croatian BIP. 

Estimated number of Bosnian dogs entering the UK from 2016-June 2018, based on figures from a transporter, rescues and Bosnian animal welfare groups is 2,700. The figures below mean 3.3% of dogs leaving Bosnia are not legal.

The number of dogs from Bosnia which entered the EU through a BIP in Croatia with a destination of the UK is as follows: 

2016 – 20 
2017 – 53 
2018 (to 28th June) – 17  

Consider also that this is only 2 non EU countries from which dogs are being "rescued". We also rescue from Ukraine, Macedonia, Montenegro,Albania and so on. The Ukraine has an incredibly high level of rabies and rescues there rescue dogs from China, you can see how this goes......

I for one am appalled that this has been allowed to develop into the money spinning industry that it has, rooted in corruption and organised crime, this industry is worth 300 million euro/ year. 

Nobody would dare argue that there are dogs all over the world who need saving, who live and die in horrendous conditions (including the UK) but that does not mean our government should sit back and allow dogs posing health threats to people, domestic pets and wildlife enter the UK. 

Since Barnaby has been in quarantine, I have sat and watched as dogs continue to come in from Serbia, APHA have the figures they provided me with and so they are well aware that these dogs are not entering legally and therefore pose a health threat to our country.

Having spoken with a UK Charity who actually titers their dogs before bringing them in, figures provided of dogs from Serbia who are titered and prepared properly amount to roughly 10% meaning 89.55% of dogs from Serbia are not even titer tested and if the so called rescuers who are lining their pockets can not be trusted to titer the dogs, how can anybody trust that the dogs are vaccinated and wormed.

There has already been claims of a suspected rabies cases in pups smuggled into the UK and distemper and parvo are now par for the course in "rescue dogs". This is not acceptable and APHA need to be more transparent in what is actually being done to counter the problems exposed by these figures. No longer can they claim that they were not aware of the extent of the problem nor that they had no conclusive proof. If Barnaby isn't enough proof for you the look at the figures your department has supplied. 

It is stated that APHA can not distinguish between Romanian and Serbian dogs once they are put on Romanian passports and traces so is the only solution  to do as Norway has done and declassify cats and dogs as commercial goods so they can not come in on traces? Otherwise, what can APHA do, turn a blind eye, pretend the problem doesn't exist? 
Even after the death of the dogs last week, rescuers here and in the UK are still arranging for dogs to leave the same way next week. What shocks me is that  APHA receive the ITAC's (intra document) for these dogs while they are still in transit. They have the ability to investigate the origin of these dogs and stop them at Calais or Folkestone, if I can track these rescuers, dogs and transports why the heck can the very people being paid to ensure the system works fail to do so.

My conclusion is that either APHA don't give a jot about illegal dogs entering our country or the problem is so out of control that they are helpless to stop it.

We all want to help animals, nobody wants to see them suffer but studies have proven that despite millions of pounds being donated, EU grants, the stray dog problem in the Balkans has not improved. All that has improved is the business model and infrastructure of those making money from rehoming and this will never change as whilst there is money to be made, there will be strays to rehome.

Focus should be on spaying, neutering and educational programmes to enable and support dogs being rehomed in their country of origin. Dogs Trust has such a programme in Bosnia and it's one that animal welfare groups abroad welcome, not everybody in these countries want to see their dogs shipped abroad, they want help and support to improve conditions in their own countries.
Michael Gove, DEFRA and APHA can not continue to ignore this issue, there is so much focus on the puppy smuggling but the reality of the situation is that the majority of diseases brought into the country is not through puppies, it is the rescue dogs and as a prominent vet has stated, if rabies is going to enter this country, it will be through the street dogs, not the puppies. This is obvious to anybody with half a brain cell! Rescue dogs have been living on the streets, in the wild, in shelters, they have a far greater chance of carrying disease, including rabies (more so from the Ukraine) than newly born pups.

As rescuers here and abroad apparently have no desire to change how they operate, only one transporter I have spoken with has chosen to stop bringing in illegal dogs and trace units openly state they are untouchable and continue to provide fake passport and falsify traces, what solution is there? Norway implemented the declassification of rescue dogs, basically banning them from entry and that beginning to look like the only solution for the UK post Brexit and those who did nothing to resolve the problems will only have themselves to blame.