Barnaby Longdog - fighting against illegal dog importing

Marinela Tudor manages the TRACES unit in Arad Romania, one of several who falsify documents to send Serbian and/or Bosnian, Bulgarian and Ukrainian dogs on Romanian TRACES. Others are Ionel Puscas at Danyflor, Timisoara and Rudi Hoffman at Pet Shelter, Bucharest. You have to understand the money involved to realise why this corruption exists. In some cases, local governments are funding these shelters to the tune of approximately 20,000 euro a month. In GBP terms, that is approximately £120,000 a year. Yet, despite sterilisation campaigns and tens of thousands of dogs being rehomed throughout Europe each year, the number of dogs do not appear to be decreasing.  In addition to local funding, these units benefit from overseas donations, fees for dogs put through traces and selling passports. If the problem of stray dogs was resolved, these people would be out of business. When I started this, I had no idea what TRACES, BIP, FAVN or many other acronyms meant and so it has...

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...

What can I say except a huge thank you to each and every one of you! Thanks to everybody coming together to support us on this, Barnaby target has been reached so he will be returned to us in August. The prize draw has been left to run as tickets have been purchased, it will end on the 2nd of June and the fundraiser will be closed. Any extra after quarantine and expenses will go to a doggie charity. I always said that when Barnaby's fight was over I would be leaving social media as it has never been part of my life and this I hope will still come to be. However, in the time between now and Barnaby being released, there is so much I want to do. We are currently talking with organisations and individuals in the UK, Serbia and Romania. This issue is so complex that it requires new legislation to effect change and that is a long and slow process. In regards to this, we will be campaigning and petitioning for Barnaby's Law. The law would mean a maximum of 5 dogs could be comme...

 If you don't have time to read in full, jump to the bottom where Jan is being told in December last year that Dejan was smuggling dogs, that dogs were not vaccinated and about sick dogs being homed. If you don't think there is anything wrong with this, that's your prerogative. Personally, I do as had she or DNH acted on that information, Dejan would not have been able to advertise Barnaby in January and Barnaby would probably still be with his original Serbian family (which included a young girl)  and not in quarantine. Captions have been provided in red for those in a hurry. Well, this is where it all started for Barnaby and me. A facebook group Dachshunds Needing Homes and one of their admin Jan Seamons. My involvement with Jan started when she openly posted on DNH that I had stolen Barnaby from Dejan and should return him or the police would be involved. As you all know, nobody stole Barnaby, Dejan was just concerned that Kristine, who I had bought Barnaby from...

Dejan Savic, well, what can I say! This man apparently fooled many people. From vets, to transporters, to rescuers to admin on Dachshunds Needing Homes. How many were genuinely fooled though? How many instead just turned a blind eye to the goings on? That is for you to decide, all I can do is present the facts. My instincts told me to steer clear of this man, one of the reasons I refused to give him my phone  number or address and that has proven to have been a very wise decision. As most will know, I did not buy my dog from Dejan and was unaware of Kristine Smiths connection with Dejan. Myth: Dejan was a kind, loving person who rescued street dogs and sent them to a better life.  Truth: Dejan found a way to make easy money as over time he cut corners to maximise profit. Many dogs came from breeders. In one chat below you will see him talking about selling dogs for a friend. Note the Pure bred St Bernards and boxer pups who were too young (under 7 months) to even...