Rise in illegal puppy trade in Estonia heightens rabies risk
The illegal puppy trade is on the rise in Europe, including in Estonia, bringing with it a heightened threat of disease, even of rabies, Maaleht wrote.
The Veterinary and Food Board (PTA) has warned of the health risks and the animal welfare issues associated with the illegal pet trade, which often sees puppies, often in poor health, smuggled in from Ukraine and Russia.
"The European market requires around 8 million puppies annually, with a financial value reaching over a billion euros. The profits from illegal pet trafficking are huge – traffickers make more than ten times the profit on each animal sold. Previously, animals brought from Eastern European countries were primarily aimed at Western European countries, and our region was mainly used as a transit point. However, now there are more cases where animals are also being sold in Estonia. Pet documents are often falsified to hide the animals' true origin," said Anne-Ly Veetamm, head of the Animal Health and Welfare Department at the PTA.
She cited the example of a case where false pet passport forms were used which may have originated in Estonia, while, vice versa, pets were purchased online with falsified Czech or Slovenian pet passports and with fake rabies vaccination stickers.
"They were weak and sick, and at least one of them died despite the veterinarians' efforts," Veetamm noted.
According to Veetamm, the age of animals is often falsified in the documents. "In practice, this often means that puppies are listed as older than they actually are. This is done to give the impression that the animal meets the requirements, when in reality it may be too young to be vaccinated against rabies and to be properly transported or sold. Recently, a case was identified in Germany where the age of a dog from Russia was falsified in the documents to allow its entry into the European Union," explained Veetamm.
The PTA has reminded pet owners to always check an animal's origin, documents, and vaccination data when acquiring a pet and to prefer reliable breeders; when importing pets from non-EU countries, the animal must have a veterinary certificate, and the animal and its documents will be checked at veterinary control points on the EU border.
Pets must also be regularly vaccinated against rabies, which has no cure once contracted, at intervals of no more than two years.
While rabies has been eradicated in Estonia and the EU, Russia reported over 1,000 cases of rabies last year, while the number of cases has doubled in the first few months of this year; Russia and Ukraine both reported rabies cases in humans last year – the disease is always fatal in humans – and rabies has been found in other Eurasian countries such as Belarus, Georgia, Turkey, the Central Asian republics and some of the Balkan countries.
While dogs can be legally brought into the EU from most of these countries, they must have a minimum age of seven months (dogs can be vaccinated against rabies from 12 weeks of age) followed by a blood test 30 days later, to confirm that the dog has developed sufficient immunity against rabies; movement is only allowed after a 3-month waiting period, ensuring that the dog was not infected at the time of vaccination.
The National Laboratory for Research and Risk Assessment (LABRIS) has the capability to conduct laboratory testing for rabies, which helps in responding quickly in potential cases of the disease.
More information on traveling into Estonia with a pet is available on the PTA's website here.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte
