They illegally imported small dog puppies from Slovakia, sold with false documents, without vaccinations and with diseases that caused their death within a few days of purchase. An illegal traffic of thousands of specimens discovered and dismantled by the border police of Rimini who carried out seven precautionary measures, including three European arrest warrants, and 13 local and house searches. In prison in Nitra (Slovakia) a 33-year-old man and his 54-year-old mother, linked to a 64-year-old Italian arrested instead in Loano (Savona). According to the police, the three are the leaders of the group that sold the puppies on the internet for profits that in a year are around one million euros. Also in prison were a 33-year-old animal dealer from Rimini and a 45-year-old Neapolitan who provided false documents for transport and sale. Under house arrest is a female collaborator of the group, a 36-year-old woman from Cesenatico, who answered questions from buyers on the internet, and a 60-year-old businessman from Santarcangelo, stopped yesterday morning at Bologna airport on his way back from a trip to Spain. Eight suspects are at large, including the owner of an illegal kennel, a 41-year-old from Naples, in Villaricca (Naples). The investigation, called ‘Luxury Dog’, coordinated by prosecutor Elisabetta Melotti and deputy Paola Bonetti, began last year after reports from about forty owners of puppies purchased on the internet and who died a few days after delivery. Border Police, Rimini mobile squad, with the collaboration of the International Police Cooperation Service, Sirene, two EnFast Teams (European Network of Active Fugitive Search Units) and the mobile squads of Milan, Alessandria, Bergamo, Savona, Naples, supported by the eco-zoophilic guards of ‘Fare Ambiente’ have therefore identified the members of the group who will now have to answer for criminal association, trafficking of pets, mistreatment, fraud, material forgery, fraud in trade and illegal exercise of a profession. The puppies were mistreated especially during transport by car from Slovakia to the various Italian destinations. Kept in small carriers, even 20 at a time, without water or food, the puppies often died during the journey. The police saved about a hundred of them, all of whom were immediately given into foster care.
