From the CBC:
“Buyer beware:
Ottawa fails to track thousands of puppies, some carrying diseases, imported to
Canada each year”
The federal
government fails to maintain a central database to track the thousands of
puppies imported to Canada every year, CBC's Marketplace has learned, an issue
experts have for years warned threatens animal welfare and can transport
zoonotic diseases into Canada. Ottawa has not taken definitive action to crack
down on the virtually unregulated industry. Not only does the federal
government not electronically track how many puppies have arrived — it also
doesn't know where they end up. Top Canadian veterinary researcher Dr. Scott
Weese, the Ontario Veterinary College's chief of infection control, said the
business of commercially importing dogs lacks adequate regulation. "It's
easier to bring in a dog than a case of beer," he said.
While the
business is opaque, websites, especially in eastern Europe, offer litters of
puppies for export to brokers based in Canada. Weese and animal rights
advocates Marketplace spoke to worry the source of the animals are, in fact,
puppy mills where mothers are kept constantly pregnant and raised in poor
conditions, which has led to infections, disease and medical conditions from
poor breeding. Once purchased — for
anywhere from $50 to $200 each — the dogs are flown to Canada, collected by the
brokers and sold online, often at markups of 10 to 20 times the purchase price.
Marketplace has found puppies from Ukraine, for example, can be sold online for
between $3,000 and $6,000 each.
Recommendations
for change not adopted Weese made recommendations to the Canadian Food
Inspection Agency (CFIA), which regulates animal imports, as early as 2016
through the Canadian National Canine Importation Working Group report. The report laid out that "a large but
unquantified number of companion animals (particularly dogs) are imported into
Canada every year," and that "there is currently no monitoring and
minimal control of companion animal movement into and within Canada." Representatives
from the CFIA and other government departments were both members and advisers
for that working group, which made a range of recommendations from staffing
CFIA officers at major border crossings, to instituting fines and more detailed
record-keeping. But Weese said
recommendations were not implemented and the problem is as rampant as ever,
with flights of imported puppies landing at Canada's major airports multiple
times a week.
Even as
COVID-19 has restricted air travel, the cargo terminal at Toronto's Pearson
International Airport has been buzzing with newly arrived puppies — some
reportedly just eight weeks old. Sometimes hundreds of them arrive on a single
flight, stuffed two or more to a crate, at the end of a confined international
journey that began a day earlier in eastern Europe. It's a scene that has
repeated itself at least several times a month, for many months, part of a
multimillion-dollar import scheme which, Weese and veterinary experts said,
links overseas puppy mills to unsuspecting Canadian buyers. While similar
imports are banned — or heavily regulated — in other countries, it's quite
legal in Canada. So routine, in fact, the dogs are often being sold within days
of their arrival.
'Like
they're just picking up bulk mail' Following
the death of nearly 40 dogs in a shipment of more than 500 puppies from Ukraine
in June, Marketplace began staking out the cargo terminal, watching as a
Turkish Airlines flight, bringing dogs from Kiev via Istanbul, unloaded dozens
of puppies. Soon after landing,
seven cars pulled into the cargo terminal, ranging from a Mercedes and Lexus
with deeply tinted windows to a minivan. The occupants, believed to be
importers, filled out paperwork inside, took minutes to clear the dogs with the
CFIA, and then loaded multiple crates into their vehicles. "They
walk in and they just hand in their import permit to the cargo workers … like
they're just picking up bulk mail," professional dog handler Abby Lorenzen
told Marketplace. It's a legal
process, but happening at a scale that concerns animal welfare advocates. "These mass importations of animals
for resale for nothing but the almighty dollar — that has to stop," said
Lorenzen. She said she's witnessed multiple puppy import flights landing
in Toronto, picked up by small groups of individuals. "You'll see
them on Kijiji and some other third-party website," as early as the
morning after they arrive, said Lorenzen.
With the
imports come viruses — and that's not all Adam Harper purchased a French
bulldog on Kijiji for $3,500. The seller, he said, never asked about his
suitability to take on a puppy. Six hours after responding to the ad, his new
best friend, Titus, was in Adam's car on the way to his new home. Harper
was surprised when the seller handed him a Ukrainian dog passport on the way out.
It claimed Titus had been vaccinated against rabies. But his veterinarian found
the document "didn't make any sense." A blood analysis later
showed that Titus had either never been vaccinated, or was given the rabies
shot at such a young age it would not have been effective. Marketplace
has spoken to multiple other buyers whose dogs were imported from eastern
Europe and sold on sites like Kijiji. They said the puppies they purchased were
found — often within hours of being picked up — to be infested with viruses and
parasites like parvo, giardia and cryptosporidium.
The Canadian
Veterinary Medical Association warns there is a risk of importing zoonotic
diseases not currently found in Canada. "The
CVMA's concern is based not only on hypothetical risks, but on concrete
examples of parasitic, viral and bacterial diseases having entered Canada by
way of dogs, and directly impacting animal and human health," the
association wrote in a July 2020 press release calling for better regulations
and more policies for importing dogs.
Erika Erwin's
puppy, Mousse, came from a seller who claimed the dog was "100 per cent
healthy." But hours after the purchase, she ended up in the veterinary
emergency clinic and found to be infected with coccidia and campylobacter. The
vet further diagnosed Mousse with severe neurological issues, and she was
unable to feel her back legs. It got worse. Soon after came the first anal
prolapse, where a part of the bowel system falls out of the dog. Pet insurance
covered much of the cost, but the veterinary care for Mousse added up to over
$13,400. Numerous other owners of dogs imported from abroad have reported the
same problem. Erwin reported the many health issues to her seller. She said the
seller blamed her.. "And if I wanted that money back, I had to sign an
agreement basically to keep my mouth shut and not post on social media,"
Erwin said. "And I just didn't think that was worth it."
Imports both
legal and barely regulated Marketplace tracked brokers believed to be
selling imported puppies and met with them, while recording with hidden camera.
Some acknowledged the dogs had come from eastern Europe. Others did not. One
seller said her puppies had been cleared by a veterinarian at customs, to
affirm their health. But Weese,
the veterinary researcher, said there really aren't any rules. "The dog
was alive. That's pretty much the bare minimum to get through. We don't have
testing requirements for diseases. We don't have quarantine practices."
He's calling for that to change, as is the Canadian Veterinary Medical
Association. In a statement following the death of imported dogs at Pearson
airport, the association said: "This appears to be a case of large-scale
puppy mill importation," and noted that the practices "present
serious animal welfare concerns." In July, the CFIA issued an
interim order to halt the importation of puppies under eight months of age from
Ukraine. But Weese said importers may be using other countries to mask their
origin in transit, or purchasing elsewhere in eastern Europe, and so the
imports continue. "If I can
bring in 200 dogs from somewhere and sell them for $5,000, that's a lot of
money," said Weese. "So if I build in 10, 20, even 50 dead dogs, if I
can still make a profit that doesn't necessarily dissuade me if I'm an
unethical importer."
The CFIA said
that "significant restrictions" or a complete ban could devastate
importers, including rescue operations and dog show operators. It said that
stricter import requirements won't eliminate the possibility of genetic defects
or parasites that can't be identified at the time of arrival in Canada. It also said buyers should ask "key
questions" to avoid supporting puppy mills both in Canada and abroad. Meanwhile, Titus has settled into his new life
with Adam Harper and, after a fresh round of vaccinations, he has a clean bill
of health. Harper said he will never buy another dog off Kijiji. "I think
that I was poorly informed," he said. "We as Canadians have to look
at our role in terms of our laws allowing for [importation] to happen and for
the demand of consumers like me that allow for these dogs to then be purchased
here in this country."
Tips for
purchasing a puppy For those seeking out a pet from a reputable source,
humane societies and veterinary groups have offered several tips and also
warnings about suspect behaviour. If the puppy is three months old or
younger, the mother dog should still be present. Potential purchasers should be
able to see her, as well as any paperwork associated with the puppy, before
putting down a deposit. Breeders typically have wait lists that extend
into months, if not years. A breeder offering a dog for quick sale may not be a
reputable operator. When contacting a breeder, try to meet where the litter of
puppies is located so the facilities can be seen. Breeders who want to meet at
strip malls, parking lots and parks may require additional scrutiny. As
always, humane societies, SPCAs and rescue groups continue to be an
alternative, and often more affordable, option for dog adoption.
^ I believe in
rescuing and adopting pets - especially
from places where the animal population is high and the adoption rate is low (I
got my current dog from my local Humane Society after he was rescued in Texas –
which has a lot of unwanted pets - and
brought up to New England – which has less pets to adopt and more adopters - but this goes beyond that. This isn’t about
saving pets’ lives, but only about making money. There is no excuse (except for
laziness, bribery, etc.) that a Government does not screen every single animal
arriving at its land, sea and air borders. If a pet is sick then they should be
given the correct treatment at a Vet before being adopted out. That way both
the pet and those adopting them can have a good life together. Canada (and most
of the world) needs to do a lot more to protect cats, dogs, birds, hamsters, etc.
both those within their territory and those coming from outside their borders.
^
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