Barnaby Longdog - fighting against illegal dog importing

This is a question I have been asked a number of times. The answer is also important to understand my next two posts. Please bear with as it's quite detailed though easily understood. Pet Passport Scheme: this is exactly what is says, a passport for YOUR pet. The assumption is that responsible owners will ensure their dogs are healthy and vaccinations, worming etc are up to date. They are ONLY for use when a dog is travelling with it's owner or an appointed legal representative who is travelling with or within 5 days of your dog from the same country of origin to destination. Further, " you or your representative must sign a Declaration of Non-Commercial Transport stating that your pet's transport does not involve the sale or transfer of ownership of your pet." This is applicable for all animals coming to the UK using the PET passport scheme(exceptions for show or exhibition dogs exist). So, if your dog has left it's country of origin using the Pet p...

This post involves the transport side of the illegal dog smuggling. Many were/are involved and so I ask you bear with me as it will be a work in progress and I might post separate blogs for each transporter. As you read through, you might also recognise other names of UK rescues who have not been previously mentioned, they will be in a later update post. Further, you will note many Bosnian rescuers, the Bosnian aspect came late in the day to me as I couldn't see the point, nor from Bulgaria - both are in the EU so why not just take them out legally. Again, it comes down to the turnaround time and profit. To legitimately move from either country, the dog would need rabies vaccination, wormed and wait 21 days from the vaccination date. The documentation is also more involved and there are fees to pay. All time consuming, expensive and so it's easier and cheaper to just pop across the border using the pet passport scheme, in batches of 5 into Hungary or to Serbia and travel with...