Instead, we contacted some of whom we received tips. They would be more serious, it was said, and we quickly understood what it meant. Like an adoption, it would be determined if we were appropriate parents. Not vice versa.

If you, as the first time buyer suddenly sits in what feels like a police interrogation, many would hesitate. But perhaps most annoying is that several serious breeders want to avoid selling a dog to someone who has never had one.

But we humans are used to buying what we want. Or at least what we can afford. And that is where the opportunity for rogue smugglers arises. Through all the sales pages on the net it is very easy to sell and buy something fast. It is this simplicity that we love.

When our first dog was three years old we took over another dog. Then she was six months. We only knew that the previous owners had bought the dog through a sales page online but could never imagine how bad things would go.

Often it takes a few years for diseases to show up. When that happens, you are so in love with it that you are more or less willing to do anything for it. Only then do you realize how expensive a dog can actually be. It usually starts happily, but several are then forced to mourn their new family members just weeks after they brought home their puppy. Without understanding how everything went or what happened.

Nala, as she was called, did not have problems until she was over a year. It all started with her having problems walking and being forced into two knees. Then it was found that she also had soft rubber seals, which made breathing difficult and any future surgeries.

Before Nala turned three, she died. She collapsed paralyzed. We went from yellowing with a puppy to burying her overnight. It's probably the most traumatic I've been through. When close relatives who died I have not taken as hard at all. Maybe it was that she just disappeared so quickly. Or the leash for dogs is stronger. But one thing is for sure, there is nothing I would like to experience again.

The fact that a dog is sold cheaply online is often a sign that something is not right. But the strange thing is that today, smuggling dogs are sold for about the same price as a well-bred legal dog. When it comes to popular breeds, there is so much demand that serious kennels cannot satisfy the need. The smugglers aren't stupid either. They know the system well and in some cases the dogs are sold as Swedish-born.

So how do you know if a dog is actually smuggled or not? I called the customs to inquire and they replied: “A smuggling dog has no papers; no pedigree, health document and no passport ”. But there was something in the simple description that I had difficulty accepting. Can it really be that simple?

So five years after Nala's death, I started searching for the woman who once sold her. I chose to document this trip. Along the way, I understand that smuggling dogs are everywhere. Many of those who bought one do not even know that they have one, that their dog has been brought in from abroad on unclear grounds.

And it is this journey, and my lessons learned from it, that has come to be the movie: Loved the smuggling dog .