Shortly before the border – strike against puppy mafia: Customs releases 30 dogs

While the animal corner “Krone” is tirelessly and successfully fighting against the callous trade in young animals, local customs on the southern highway just before the Italian border at the Arnoldstein traffic checkpoint managed to make a big catch: together with the police, 30 puppies were rescued , most of whom are in extremely poor health.

Strenuous journey
The small dogs, including spaniels, Maltese and poodles, but also dogs from so-called torture farms such as miniature dachshunds and French bulldogs, were stuffed into twelve transport boxes in the car. The suspect (46), who had the corresponding animal passports with him, stated that he had paid almost 6,000 euros for the animals and wanted to bring them to Algeria via Barcelona.

Not old enough
However, a veterinarian who was called in determined that the baby dogs were much too young for transport based on the missing baby teeth. The cute rascals were subsequently seized and are in quarantine.

Finance Minister Magnus Brunner thanks his officials: “Once again it has been shockingly demonstrated how important the work of customs is, not only to protect us humans, but also for animals.”

Baby dogs for a bargain price
The animal corner “Krone” also conducts research in this direction and regularly discovers these types of cases. Only a few weeks ago, illegal trafficking was discovered in Lower Austria. The official veterinarian who was called in and the people who discovered it were presented with a sad picture: pleading wailing, a beastly stench and a ‘breeder’ who just shrugged his shoulders. In addition to poor husbandry, there were suspicions of worm infestations, eye infections and the spread of the disease, probably due to fake rabies vaccination.

The animals were far too young to be seized immediately. In the bright neon light of the basement, everything suddenly seems different than promised in the advertisement on a sales platform. But stopping these machinations is difficult: the high demand for the current fashion varieties determines the supply, which is why dubious advertisements appear every day. For the authorities it is an endless battle.

Animal suffering delivered to your home with one click of the mouse
There is a lack of staff for inspections and the masterminds are becoming increasingly brazen and aggressive – after all, there is a lot of money at stake. The “Krone” Tierecke regularly reports on this and has already brought many of these sad cases to light. This educational work is an important key because now everyone should know what to look for if they plan to buy an animal:

The head of the animal corner “Krone”, Maggie Entenfellner, also emphasizes in her comment: The buyer is responsible!
Some people still don’t seem to understand what might be hidden behind seemingly inconspicuous advertisements on the Internet, or they simply don’t want to know at all. But anyone who turns a blind eye to the sad reality and buys animals from dubious sources is partly responsible for the fact that dogs in Eastern Europe are bred under catastrophic conditions and offered on online portals.

The ‘crown’ will not stand idly by, and we will continue to expose these mafia structures and free animals – despite many attempts at intimidation. For the masterminds, it is about a lot of money, which they earn on the backs of defenseless animals and take from the pockets of naive buyers.

But the government parties are also called on to step up the fight against the illegal puppy trade. In a forthcoming amendment to the law, Minister of Animal Welfare Rauch wants to criminalize not only the trade in such animals, but also the purchase of them. This is a long-awaited step because a reconsideration will only happen if the buyer is punished and asked to pay. I wonder why the Chancellor’s party put on the brakes and postponed for so long.