"A victory for compassion”: Puppy Smuggling Bill to become law

The UK’s largest dog welfare charity Dogs Trust is celebrating a better future for dogs as The Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill, also known the Puppy Smuggling Bill, passed its remaining stages in the House of Lords today Friday 21 November, thanks to years of campaigning by the charity and its supporters. The Private Members Bill, sponsored by Winchester MP and vet Danny Chambers, which will now gain Royal Assent, where it will be signed into law by His Majesty The King, has given the Government powers to:  

• Raise the minimum import age for puppies to six months. 
• Ban the import and sale of dogs with cropped ears or docked tails. 
• Introduce tougher penalties for illegal importers. 
• Ban the import of heavily pregnant dogs. 

Dogs Trust has been campaigning for over 10 years to tackle puppy smuggling, after raising the alarm in 2012 when changes to the Pet Travel Scheme were opening the door for puppy smugglers. This is the third attempt at tougher legislation, with two previous Bills seeking to tackle the awful trade failing to progress through Parliament. As well as campaigning for these changes to become law, Dogs Trust has helped over 3,200 illegally imported puppies to find their forever homes, through the charity’s ‘Puppy Pilot’ scheme, set up in 2014, which if sold to unsuspecting members of the public, would have made over £5 million for illegal importers. Dogs Trust is the only charity who work with the APHA (Animal and Plant Health Agency) to aid the interception of illegally imported puppies at the ports, by providing care and rehabilitation to the puppies while finding their forever homes. 

Owen Sharp, CEO of Dogs Trust said, “This Bill is a victory for compassion and common sense and a huge milestone for animal welfare. For far too long, smugglers have put profits first, taking advantage of loopholes in the law, which is why this Bill has been at the forefront of Dogs Trust’s campaigning work for the past 11 years. The success we’ve achieved today wouldn’t have been possible without Dogs Trust’s incredible supporters, who in this time have taken over 100,000 actions such as writing to the Prime Minister or their MP to ensure that the Government tackles puppy smuggling, so I can’t thank them enough. Although we celebrate this fantastic achievement, we need to ensure that the Government exercises these new powers, so our job to prioritise dog welfare is not over yet.” 

Two dogs who came into Dogs Trust’s care after being seized at the border are Pip and Squeak, two Yorkshire Terriers. The tiny dogs were seized at the port of Dover in September 2025, alongside another dog, after being illegally transported to the UK at just seven weeks of age, too young to be separated from their mother, and far too young to enter the UK legally. Before being intercepted, the three dogs had endured the 1,494-mile journey from Slovakia to the UK, in a box in the back of a car. Pip and Squeak were seized on suspicion of being underage, and arrived into the UK with no paperwork, no microchips, and no rabies or tapeworm treatment. They travelled in cramped and squalid conditions, in a box with very little opportunity to stop for a toilet break and little to no access to food or water, on the 26-hour car journey to the UK. Luckily, they ended up in Dogs Trust’s care via the charity’s Puppy Pilot scheme, where they will be returned to health, and will soon find their happy place with their forever families. 

Danny Chambers, vet and Lib Dem MP for Winchester, said: "Every year thousands of puppies are taken from their mothers far too young, smuggled by criminal gangs across Europe in the back of vans and sold in the UK for profit, with no care for their welfare. Well, no more. Thanks to the support of the Dogs Trust and other animal welfare organisations, we got the Animal Welfare Bill through the Commons, through the Lords, and now on course to become law. As a vet, knowing this Bill will have a bigger impact on animal welfare than I could possibly have achieved in a lifetime treating individual animals, demonstrates how important this legislation will prove to be." 

For more information on Dogs Trust’s campaign to end Puppy Smuggling, please visit www.puppysmuggling.co.uk