Three women are charged at the Helsingborg district court - suspected of having smuggled in 60 puppies

The accused women are said to have brought in smuggled puppies on repeated occasions in 2020 that had neither a valid rabies vaccination, EU passport nor ID marking.

The puppies were also not registered for customs control, something Helsingborgs Dagblad was the first to report on.

Prosecutor Charlotte Österlund does not yet know what the accused risk receiving as a punishment.

- When you risk bringing in rabies, it's a serious crime, but I haven't looked at the penalty yet, she says.

Handwritten purchase agreements

The puppies have been sold as Swedish-born, but have been registered in a Polish system with Polish dog passports.

They have also not reached the age to be legally brought into Sweden and without permission from the county administrative board to sell them.

The evidence includes conversations between the suspects, a transporter, a breeder in Poland and transactions.

One of the accused also allegedly had a stun gun, the woman denies this, but admits to a minor drug offence.

When buyers asked for a purchase agreement, they received a handwritten one.

Photo: Police preliminary investigation

Several of the buyers have testified about handwritten purchase agreements.

Most of the buyers had to pay in cash and some of the dogs showed signs of illness at home in the form of eye, skin or stomach problems, among other things.

One dog also had antibodies with rabies.

16 puppies were euthanized directly at the border.

Photo: Customs

"Most buyers have had no idea"

According to one of the buyers, the puppies were in a pile, around them there was pee on the floor and it smelled.

Regarding the buyers, it seems, after questioning, that almost no one knew that these were smuggled dogs.

- Someone may have guessed it, but most people had no idea but thought they were Swedish dogs.

Certainly dogs without papers and Tracer, says Charlotte Österlund.

Tracer is the EU's joint system for tracking shipments of animals between countries, something that all imported dogs have.

It shows where the dog was bred and that it is vaccinated.