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1,000 signatures reached
To: Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs
Tackle the illegal puppy trade in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is the gateway for a multi-million pound trade in puppies across the UK. The Department must give Councils the powers to create a central database of licenced breeders across all councils, raise breeder licence fees, and increase monitoring and enforcement.
Why is this important?
Many puppies involved in the illegal trade are malnourished and diseased, with an estimated one-third dying in the hands of their new families, and breeding dogs are being kept in squalid conditions, in cages, overbred and abused. Hundreds of puppies are for sale in the Belfast area, where there is not one official licensed breeder. Unscrupulous breeders are taking advantage of the gaps in law and regulation to make thousands of pounds, and causing misery to puppies and dogs.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/20/the-new-drugs-northern-ireland-gateway-for-150m-puppy-trade
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-northern-ireland-58964948
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/20/the-new-drugs-northern-ireland-gateway-for-150m-puppy-trade
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-northern-ireland-58964948