Smuggling Sick Puppies at Mexican Border This just really hurts me. Those poor babies. :( Animal Control Monitors Mexico Puppy Trade SAN DIEGO (Dec. 21) - Smugglers are buying puppies at rock-bottom prices in Mexico and selling them in the United States for up to $1,000, often to owners who later discover the canines are too sick or too young to survive on their own, authorities said. The Border Puppy Task Force - a group of 18 animal control and health agencies and animal protection groups - said Tuesday a two-week operation at San Diego's two border crossings confirmed what they long suspected: Mexico is a breeding ground for unscrupulous puppy peddlers. "It's a profit-driven practice, it's a disturbing practice," said Capt. Aaron Reyes, director of operations at the Southeast Area Animal Control Authority in Los Angeles County. From Dec. 5 through Sunday, agents at the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa border crossings ordered vehicles carrying anything with "feathers, fleas, fur or fangs" to a separate area for more thorough inspections, Reyes said. The searches turned up 362 puppies under 3 months old, 155 between 3 and 6 months and 1,061 adult dogs. Canines were found in trunks and under seats. It's unclear exactly how many of those dogs were smuggled - it's legal to ferry dogs if they are declared at the border and they have rabies shots and health records - but Reyes said the "vast majority" of those under 3 months were probably contraband. About half the puppies between 3 and 6 months old were likely smuggled, he said. The puppies - typically small breeds like poodles and Chihuahuas - are believed to be purchased in Mexico for between $50 and $150, then sold at street corners, parking lots and flea markets in Southern California for between $300 and $1,000 each. On Nov. 15, federal agents searching a Honda CR-V at the Otay Mesa crossing found 16 undeclared puppies in three cages that were covered by blankets and boxes of laundry detergent. The suspect, a Mexican woman with an animal cruelty record, allegedly told investigators she needed the money and had lots of orders to fill. The Border Puppy Task Force formed last year after a spate of complaints from brokenhearted owners who reported their dogs were turning sick and often dying. They were getting socked with thousands of dollars in veterinarian bills. Common diseases include distemper, rabies, parvovirus and ringworm. No arrests were made during the inspections at the San Diego border crossings. Authorities described the operation as a "census" to measure how many dogs were being smuggled across the border. "We confirmed there is a problem," Reyes said. "We're not going to sit on our hands and let these puppies be brought over in the condition that they are, and to be sold sick, and to end up dying." |
The cycle never ends and we can thank the skyrocketing prices of popular dogs for all this greed...how sad for the puppies and the people that want to just have a dog to love.... It's just so awful and I hope they can nail everyone of those smugglers so there is NO money in it for them and they have to stop breeding - but that's wishful thinking isn't it ? |
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Im totally not surprised that Mexico jumped in on this. It just upsets me that they are working to solve this problem when we commit the same act here in the US, when puppymills ship their puppies to pet stores. Its no secret, and it upsets me that they get away with something so obviously wrong. I would fully support a law that made selling puppies in pet stores illegal. |
That really is a shame! :mad: :thumbdown :mad: |
People really p*"! me off sometime..... |
This shouldn't be surprising. They smuggle drugs, guns, people, and other unmentionable things across the border. They will stop at nothing. |
I watched this on the news the other night. I think my pug, Bailey might have been one of them. I didn't know anything about this, all we knew was not to buy from Petstores. My husband had called someone in the paper, the guy had said that both of the parents were on site, but he wanted to meet him at the gas station because "it's hard to find his house." When I asked him if there was a spade and neuter contract he was like "What is that?" He didn't even know what spade or neuter meant, he said that it was his parents breeding them. My husband ended up getting the puppy and all of his shots etc were from Mexico. I thought that it was hard to bring pets across the boarder. It seemed like they search harder for plants at the boarder crossing. Bailey is healthy and everything, I just wish I would have known about this before. |
That's horrible!! :thumbdown I just saw on the news here that this happened in Spain, too. They confiscated all the dogs, I even saw some yorkies! :mad: There were alot too, don't know the exact # though. :thumbdown |
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