Imported dogs ‘posing risk to UK’, RSPCA warns

A leading animal charity institution called on all dog rescue organizations to be licensed due to increased behavioral problems and disease risks in imported pets.

Every year, thousands of dogs are brought to the UK, most of them are sold through websites and social media publications without a significant matching process or assessment.

BBC, infectious diseases and aggressive behaviors, including Romania, Ukraine and Northern Macedonia, such as delivered to the doors of the dogs that have faced serious difficulties with many ownership.

RSPCA spokesman David Bowles described the process as “delivery for dogs” and called on the government to consider a stronger regulation for the sector.

Currently, rescue organizations in Scotland should be licensed, but there is no such rule for England, Wales or Northern Ireland.

As part of the BBC investigation, secret recording showed that more than one recovery running through social media is happy to provide a short telephone conversation, completion of an application form and a dog following the video control of its properties.

The analysis of 150 advertisements on Facebook and a large online pet market showed that the majority offers rescue dogs from Eastern European countries, and half of them would be delivered to a owner in the UK.

Most are managed by well -intentioned dog lovers, following the rules on transportation and import documents.

However, the lack of preparation and veterinaryism for the owners who directly unseen dogs directly on their doors are concern among experts who say that there is no way to know people’s temperament.

“The biggest concern of RSPCA is marking the time bombs of these dogs – health is not tested.” He said.

“Diseases now come from these dogs. Not only the imported dogs, but also in this country and owners can already affect dogs.

“They almost built a Deliveoo for the dogs, and it’s a real problem.”

Scientists watch Brucella Canis, a rare disease that can be transferred to people.

A dog may occur as short -term fever with flu -like symptoms such as pain muscles, which are transmitted by reproductive fluids of a dog, but some may be exposed to longer -term complications such as bone and joint disease.

Before 2020, there were three positive cases known in dogs in the UK, but the test increased and 333 cases were investigated in 2024, and at least one example was contracted by a dog owner.

Derbyshire discovered that Brucella was positive four months after the rescue dog Nola came from Romania.

He is now confronted with rising veterinarians and insurance invoices and worried about the health of Nola and his family, but rejected a veterinarian’s sleep offer.

“My brain doesn’t calculate having a healthy dog,” he said.

“It’s just breaking my heart, it’s hard.

“I wanted to do something good and now I feel that I did something bad.”

Royal Liverpool University Hospital Tropical Medicine and Medical Microbiology Advisor Dr Stephen Woolley, dogs from dogs to people “very low” risk, but the disease “insufficient and neglected” as he said.

Many veterinarians recommend that a dog that tested positively for the disease should be released, but there are also those who say that they can be managed by taking precautions around the disinfection.

Sian Keen agreed to buy a pregnant rescue dog from Ukraine and gave birth to 11 puppies with pomegranate within the days after arriving.

However, a few weeks later, trade standards switched to Somerset’s house of Sian, and removed all 12 dogs because of concerns that they might have been imported with beaten blood test documents.

Rabies, pomegranate, offspring and other people as a precaution against 19 dogs were quarantined in the dog huts.

After three weeks of investigations, the dogs were released, but when he returned home with pomegranate, his behavior changed dramatically and attacked his 12 -year -old son.

“He was like an aggressive dog,” in a way that he had never been present before. ” He said.

“I was bitten by my arm, I was very in pain. The bite went to the safe.”

They felt that there was no choice but to sleep.

“There was nothing we could do, Sian said, Sian said. “Our intentions were completely and completely right for the right reasons.

The organization used by Sian, the Staffordshire Burton-Up-Trent-based Paw Help UK, said that he regrets the causing stress and is the highest priorities for animal welfare and public security.

He said he did not know that the documents were established and that they were caused by a laboratory used in emergencies after the war in Ukraine erupted.

In 2022, only one consignment came with a fake document, and all dogs had brought before and had completely legitimate documents.

The government figures obtained by the demand for freedom of knowledge show that 32,391 dogs entered England as commercial imports in 2024, including many rescue dogs.

Some of the UK -based rescue organizations said that the prevalence of dogs coming to the UK and their placement in the owners who cannot cope implements extra pressure on the sector.

“Basically, we have to make a mope after the rescue that does not take steps and does not take responsibility for their dogs,” Emma Shaffer, the Forest Dog Rescue in Worcestershire, said: “

Philanthropy takes dogs from England and abroad, but insists on meeting every new person to meet the dog. Then there is a cooling period for the new owner to take his dogs home.

Emma said, “You have exploded my mind a little – you have seen a video and a few pictures, and you literally adopted the dog, the dog was sent and it may fall to you at three o’clock in the morning.” He said.

Dr Rowena Packer, a dog behavior expert at Royal Veterinary College, said that many owners are concerned that many owners have been matched with inappropriate dogs.

Ms. Packer said foreign rescue dogs can be traumatized from a long journey to England and may suffer with early life trauma.

“Currently, the situation is that we have very well -intentioned people in England to be a part of the organizations that want to adopt these dogs or really help them.” He said.

“I think it’s a really gambling about what you’re going to result in, because without clear information about many elements of that dog’s life and history, it will be difficult to match with that dog. So here is a little Russian roulette.”

When the BBC was asked if there were licensing plans for rescue organizations, the government did not make a comment.

The Spokesman of the Ministry of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), animal rescue organizations “should meet the requirements of legal prosperity,” he said.

Sözcü said that a rescue can check whether a rescue is a member of the merger of dogs and cat houses, which “set net standards”.

“The government is developing an inclusive approach to animal welfare.”

Recovery Roulette: Dogs from abroad are in İplayer Now and in the West and East Midlands on July 28, 20:30 BST BBC One