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‘Deliveroo dogs' bringing diseases to Britain
‘Deliveroo dogs' bringing diseases to Britain

Telegraph

timea day ago

  • Health
  • Telegraph

‘Deliveroo dogs' bringing diseases to Britain

Imported rescue dogs being sold to British owners 'like Deliveroo' are bringing diseases to Britain, the RSPCA has warned. Thousands of the animals are brought into the UK each year from countries such as Romania, Ukraine and North Macedonia, before being sold to the British public by dog rescue organisations. Many dogs are sold via websites and social media posts without significant checks or matching processes, which has been linked to the spread of infectious diseases and aggressive behaviour. David Bowles, a spokesman for the RSPCA, likened the industry to Deliveroo, the food delivery app, which sees customers order from restaurants on their phones. He told the BBC: 'The RSPCA 's major concern is these dogs are essentially ticking time bombs, coming over, not being health tested. 'Diseases are now coming in through these dogs. They're affecting not just the dogs that are being imported, they could also affect the dogs already in this country and their owners. They've almost set up a Deliveroo for dogs, and that is a real problem.' The RSPCA has called for all dog rescue organisations to be licenced, with rescue organisations in England, Wales and Northern Ireland currently not needing a licence to operate. A BBC investigation found multiple rescues operating through social media only carried out basic checks on owners, including a short phone call, completion of an application form and a video check of a property, before providing a dog. It claimed to have analysed 150 adverts for rescue dogs and found the majority were offering animals from Eastern European countries. The UK Government has linked a rapid increase in the disease Brucella canis to dogs imported into the UK from Eastern Europe. The rare disease, which is transmitted through a dog's reproductive fluids and can be passed to humans, was only diagnosed in three dogs before 2020, according to the UK Health Security Agency. This had risen to 97 diagnoses in 2023. The BBC said testing had increased and that 333 cases were being investigated last year. Trudy Cain, from Alfreton, Derbyshire, adopted a rescue dog, Nola, from Romania that was later diagnosed with Brucella canis. She has refused a vet's offer to put down Nola but is worried about the health of the dog and her family. 'My brain does not compute having a dog that looks healthy put to sleep,' she told the BBC. 'It just breaks my heart. It's been so hard. I wanted to do a good thing and now I feel like I've done a bad thing.' Government figures show 32,391 dogs entered the UK in 2024 as commercial imports, which includes many rescue dogs. A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs said animal rescue organisations 'must meet statutory welfare requirements'. The spokesman said the public could check if a rescue was a member of the Association of Dogs and Cats Homes, which had 'set clear standards', adding: 'The Government is developing an overarching approach to animal welfare.'

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