Hamburg/Hagen, April 27, 2022 – This Friday, April 29, 2022 at 10 a.m., the next day of the hearing in the largest uncovered case of illegal puppy trade will take place before the Hagen District Court: the so-called Kreuztal case, which is about organized gang crime. was involved in the raid in Kreuztal in 2016, during which over a hundred dogs were confiscated. The Global Foundation for Animal Welfare calls on the court to impose appropriate penalties on the puppy traders with an on-site action. The appeal to the federal government is to finally stop the criminal business through effective laws.
The trial originally began on April 8, 2022 at the Hagen District Court. Since two of the seven defendants did not appear, the indictments are not to be read out until this Friday. The case of an accomplice has already been negotiated individually: Gabriele B. was sentenced to a fine of 1,300 euros – from the point of view of the animal protection organization an incredibly lax sentence. In addition, the detachment of the case poses a problem in the opinion of , because the gang crime that was evidently present in the Kreuztal case may not carry any weight in the further course of the hearing. In the case of Gabriele B., who had already been tried, neither witnesses nor the officers investigating at the time were heard in court.
In order to prevent the largest uncovered case of illegal puppy trade in Germany from being degraded to a trifle, a sign must be set urgently. Not only for animal welfare and those affected, but above all for future case law. calls on politicians to finally act and enact appropriate laws so that such cases cannot happen in the first place. The online trade in animals must finally become safe.