Based on the registration of pets and breeders, has developed a model solution to combat illegal trade on online platforms. and Europetnet, a centralized European reference registry for more than 50 percent of pet registration databases, have jointly developed a security tool for online platforms: This tool excludes anonymous traders and unregistered, untraceable animals from the market. With this system, private and commercial sellers can be differentiated and consumers are spared the painful experience of buying sick or dying animals without proof of origin. Ireland is the first country in Europe to implement the new security tool on selected platforms.
The increasing demand for purebred puppies in Western Europe, especially during the Corona pandemic, is attracting more and more illegal puppy traders. Illegal puppy traders are supplied from so-called breeding stations in countries such as Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania. The puppies are produced cheaply and kept in cruel conditions. Most often they are sick and unvaccinated and have forged or non-existent documents, which poses a significant risk to human and animal health. Preventable animal diseases such as rabies, ringworm or parasites are zoonotic and can also be transmitted to humans. With increasing demand and low costs, the profit margins for the puppy mafia are extremely high, while the risk of getting caught is very low.