Hamburg September 25, 2015 – Germany has been rabies-free since 2008. In Eastern Europe, for example Poland, this dreaded disease is still widespread. therefore warns against buying dogs from dubious sources: illegally imported and unvaccinated puppies from Eastern Europe could bring rabies back to Germany.
The international World Rabies Day has been proclaimed annually since 2007 by the Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC). The aim is to provide information worldwide about the risks, to fight the disease and to reduce the number of infections. Around 55,000 people die from the virus every year. In most cases, rabies is transmitted through dog bites or scratches. Immediate treatment is the only rescue after a bite. If the reaction is too late and symptoms already appear, the disease is fatal in both humans and animals.
Every year, countless puppies are smuggled from Eastern European countries to Western Europe and offered primarily over the Internet under false information. The vaccination certificates, which are also fake, mislead the buyers into thinking that the animals are too young, unvaccinated and mostly already sick due to the poor keeping conditions in which they are bred. In addition to other zoonoses, i.e. diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans, there is always a risk of rabies infection.