May 06, 2019

Andrew Campbell 

Officers from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) uncovered some puppy farmers in UK selling puppies for a huge profit without declaring their sales. More than £5m taxes has been recovered as part of a crackdown on the rogue and dishonest puppy breeders who sell puppies on the black market. Most of the illegally bred puppies were sold online.

HMRC was set up in 2015 to target the tax-dodging puppy farmers and also involved in Operation Delphin, which was designed to deal with illegal smuggling of puppies. Selling puppies is highly profitable and many poor dogs are bred in a large scale regardless of their welfare. There has been much concern about the welfare of the dogs, since one-fourth puppies bought online gets sick or even dies in the first year.

Mel Stride, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, said that it was shocking to treat puppies in so inhumane a way and that the taxes recovered equaled to the annual salaries for over 200 teachers. Moreover, he will cooperate with other government agencies and his partners to crack down the fraudsters.

Photo:Webshot.