While EU decision-makers are making some progress in improving legislation on the trade with wild and exotic pets, existing regulation on the intra-EU trade with more ordinary pets such as dogs and cats is not enforced.
As previously reported, the European Parliament’s Agriculture and Fisheries Council discussed last May a new EU legislative framework for an EU positive list for the trade and keeping of companion animals. In response to animal welfare organisations, the Parliament adopted last November a resolution on improving EU regulation through such a list of wild and exotic pets.
An EU positive list of allowed species is an instrument through which animals are objectively and scientifically assessed on their safety and suitability to be traded and kept as companion animals and pets. If an animal is not found on the list, it would not be legal to keep it as a pet, as opposed to a negative list, which only includes prohibited animals.
Increased demand for pets during COVID-19
As regards domestic pets, the situation is different. It is mandatory for commercial breeders to register with competent national authorities but the lack of uniform implementation by EU member states prevents effective enforcement, Eurogroup for Animals told The Brussels Times.
According to estimates by animal welfare NGO FOUR PAWS, pet ownership has grown by 2% per year in the EU. The Union is already home to approximately 73 million dogs and 84 million cats in households. Before the COVID-19 crisis, about 8 million puppies were needed to satisfy annual demand. During the pandemic, demand skyrocketed. People also abandoned pets during the pandemic or returned them to shelters.
The increase in demand pushed prices up, with animals often sold for €2,500 - €3,000. The risks of the illegal trade extend well beyond animal welfare and into the realm of public health. Online sales speed up cross-border movement of animals, often with weakened immune systems, including those from zones where rabies is endemic
Some trade is illegal
Trade which involves breeding of pets that breaches veterinary public health and welfare rules set by the EU and national legislation is illegal. Animal involved in this trade are often bred and kept in the most unsanitary and cruel conditions. They are transported across borders and sold too young, frequently ailing or unvaccinated and unsocialized to unsuspected consumers.
“This trade is eased by the lack of an EU rule to register the identification (microchip code), ownership (breeder, trader) and health information of all dogs and cats in databases in the member states,” explains Georgia Diamantopoulou, EU Companion Animal Policy Coordinator at FOUR PAWS.
A system for communication between these databases is also missing. The legal basis for EU-wide identification and registration exists in EU law.
With time, the overreliance on the European Pet Passport to certify identification and health data has allowed sellers to forge documents, bypass the EU rules foreseen for trade and misuse those for the non-commercial movement of pets, she says. The illegal trade in domestic animals has been recognized as a form of organized crime by the European Commission.
The Passport is a paper document and can easily be replaced without any traceability of the data held in previous documents. It is not linked in any reliable way to the animal’s microchip, unless there is a requirement in national legislation to register the Passport number among the information held under the microchip number in the pet database. This is the case only in a few member states.
Undercover investigations
Research shows that the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine are key puppy producing countries and hubs for the illegal trade. The trade is largely channeled to Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and UK. Puppies are often resold internationally.
Investigation of illegal puppy trade, credit: FOUR PAWS
Several investigations undertaken by FOUR PAWS have led to numerous police confiscations of illegally bred and transported animals in both buyer and transit countries. Traders are often entitled to getting the animals back if they cover the quarantine and veterinary costs. Over the past years penalties have included higher fines and multi-year prison sentencing with and without probation.
To ensure that only registered pets are offered online by traceable sellers, FOUR PAWS together with Europetnet have developed a tool called VeriPet. It connects online platforms to animal registries and verifies if the advertised animal is registered at the person offering it. If that is the case, a green check mark is shown in the online ads, reassuring both consumers and platforms that the seller is traceable.
The way forward
After more than a year, the system has been tested and is fully operational. “There is much willingness from stakeholders to see it further rolled out,” says Georgia Diamantopoulou. “We are planning an official campaign in beginning of next year that would map progress and include figures on performance.
Last July, the European Commission launched an EU Enforcement Action on the illegal trade of cats and dogs, following increasing suspicions of fraud in the trade with pets reported by EU member states. The control action will last until beginning of 2023. Its overall objectives aim at protecting the health of pets, identifying illegal trade and deterring fraudsters involved.
Asked what the Commission should do to enforce or and amend EU-regulation, Georgia Diamantopoulou, the Companion Animal Policy Coordinator, replied that the Commission has taken significant steps to regulate the breeding landscape but more needs to be done.
“It’s now time to use its powers to establish individual animal traceability, with identification and registration in connected databases being its cornerstone components. This has been a recurrent demand by the European Parliament and member states and is fully supported by animal health and welfare experts, as well as public authorities.”
Some governments are not waiting for the Commission to act. The Walloon government announced last week that it will ban the import of puppies from other countries into the region. The decree enters into force on 1 January 2026 and aims to improve animal welfare in the region. From 2026, to give or sell a puppy the breeder will have to prove that the dog was born in Wallonia.
M. Apelblat
The Brussels Times
