Dog smuggling is increasing - criticism of the Swedish National Board of Agriculture's isolation decision

In the clip above you hear Lotta Hofverberg, who is the head of the contamination protection unit at the Swedish Agricultural Agency, comment on the situation.

Cases with dogs smuggled to Sweden usually end up with the Swedish Board of Agriculture. The authority can make decisions about killing or isolating the dogs in their homes. But critics believe that there are flaws in how it is checked that the insulation decisions are complied with.

- Some are careful to isolate them, others are not. That means they can be resold. We at the County Administrative Board have no opportunity whatsoever to intervene. The Swedish Board of Agriculture also has no control over this, says Madeleine Beckaman county veterinarian in Halland.

During the years 2007-2018, the Swedish Board of Agriculture made 4,259 decisions regarding dogs smuggled into the country. In 594 cases, the authority decided that 594 dogs should be killed. Figures from the Customs Agency show that the smuggling of dogs is increasing. In 2018, Customs made 145 interventions that included 190 dogs.

The puppies smuggled to Sweden come in the majority of cases from Eastern European countries such as Belarus, Poland, Hungary and Romania. The big risk with smuggling dogs is that they can carry infectious diseases such as rabies, chinworm, leptospirosis and salmonella.