As a result, the illegal online puppy trade is booming, and state-of-the-art trafficking networks benefit from a market approximately worth over €1 billion per year, writes Georgia Diamantopoulou.

Georgia Diamantopoulou is companion animal policy coordinator at the VIER PFOTEN/FOUR PAWS European policy office.

Investigations have shown the grim reality of the illegal puppy trade. All signs of a potential health hazard are present. Puppies are bred at the lowest possible cost, mainly in Central and Eastern Europe. 

Too young to be effectively vaccinated against rabies (vaccination is regularly injected as of 3 months old and takes another 3 weeks to be activated) they are transported with falsified health and identification documents.