The illegal puppy trade is cruel: under catastrophic conditions, dogs are reproduced in Eastern Europe and offered on online portals. The ads are unobtrusive. Photos of cute puppies from supposedly loving hobby breeding obscure the true origin of the animals. A noticeably low price for an otherwise expensive pedigree dog used to be an indication of a dubious seller.
But the criminal dog dealers have learned something new and often offer trend breeds such as Maltese or Labrador at the same price level as reputable breeders. Without an identity check, even online platforms cannot identify and exclude criminal sellers.
Behind the illegal puppy trade is a criminal network of breeders, drivers and dealers. Classifieds portals on the Internet are important marketplaces because they offer the puppy mafia access to many potential buyers.
Criminal dealers offer puppies for sale anonymously or under false names. The advertisements rarely contain correct information about the dogs. If there are enough requests for a puppy, the dubious seller places an order with one or more puppy factories. Intermediaries collect the dogs and bring them across the border to Germany, where they are sold at a handover point. According to the EU, an estimated 50,000 puppies are traded between European countries each month.
In Germany, so far only commercial dealers have to provide information about their company on online platforms. But even these are easy to forge, since the information is only randomly checked. Criminal pet dealers circumvent this rule by posing as private individuals. There is hardly any recording of personal data and information about the animal. After the purchase, many dealers disappear, criminal prosecution is rarely possible.