Filenews 16 April 2022 - by Angelos Nikolaou
A puppy marketing ring where puppies are resold at exorbitant prices that reach €2,000 has been operating for years in Cyprus, with the competent authorities turning a blind eye. According to complaints and data held by "F", both Greek Cypriots and citizens of Balkan countries are involved in the illegal sales of animals. They carry purebred puppies (Maltese, Pomeranian, Toy poodle, etc.) with air flights from Greece, supposedly for residence and then sell them to interested citizens, earning crazy amounts which are even tax-free.
For the criminal gangs with huge profit potential from the illegal market, complaints have been made to all the competent bodies by connoisseurs of the whole action, without, however, any investigation being carried out so far. Specifically, the Veterinary Services, the Department of Taxation and the Audit Office have been informed with data, so that measures can be taken to combat the traffickers of puppies from the moment they receive undeclared income.
Importers take advantage of a hole in the legislation, the competent authorities turn a blind eye and the same people carry a large number of puppies, which are not their own and after disposing of them to unsuspecting citizens, they repeat the trip, even within the same month, to transport new puppies to Cyprus. A simple investigation by the Veterinary Services in cooperation with the Police would expose the circuit that acts undisturbed. If the microchips are checked in the dogs, they will find that they belong to different individuals from the importers and are even found in different cities of Cyprus.
The President of the Organization Voice for animals of Cyprus, Mary Chrysohou-Anastasis, in a letter to the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment informs him about the illegal imports of puppies for resale. Specifically, in a complaint made last March, Mrs. Anastasi refers to the very worrying import into Cyprus, via Larnaka airport, of puppies as a personal import. "There are reasonable suspicions that several people are taking advantage of certain provisions of the law, and importing puppies as their own, but in reality the purpose is to sell them," she points out. It is noted that on 10/3/2022, on the same day that the letter was received at the Ministry of Agriculture, instructions were given by the Minister to the Director of Veterinary Services for immediate investigation, actions and information.
According to Mrs Anastasi, they are in fact taking advantage of the provision of Article 5(1) of Regulation 576 of 2013, which concerns the non-commercial movement of pet animals and allows the movement of up to 5 animals. However, while carefully disregarding what is recorded in Article 3(a), 'non-commercial movements' means any movements which are not intended to sell or transfer ownership of the pet animal.
The President of "The Voice" invited the Minister of Agriculture to instruct the Veterinary Services of Larnaka, which are the competent Authority, to submit to the Ministry:
1) Data recorded daily with the animals imported daily by the Department of Customs and the data delivered to the Veterinary Services of Larnaka e.g. from last year until today. "It will be determined that there are people who import repeatedly. The numbers of puppies entering the country are imports which do not justify personal admission. When, for example, a person introduced more than 10 puppies in the space of 14 days, it is obvious that the puppies will be resold in Cyprus. If it is a legal importer, it should declare the import of the animals," he notes.
2) With the data that has been registered to the owner of the microchip of the animals, you will see that it is not the data of the importer as recorded by the Department of Customs but the details of a different person.
3) In addition, there should be better cooperation between the Veterinary Services and the Customs Department, in order to ensure the provision of the legislation and to prevent any illegalities.
According to Mrs Anastasi, unfortunately the provision in the legislation which allows European citizens to declare five puppies as a personal introduction, creates a big hole which must be closed, because it seems that there are many cunning people. "Those who import dogs for the purpose of sale, to be declared as such, in order to prevent profiteering and tax evasion. Indicatively, such dogs are sold at exorbitant prices of up to €2,000. And all this black and tax-free."
Mrs. Anastasi points out that Cyprus has become the first country to export strays due to the non-existent control and reproduction. As it seems, she notes, we will also be the first country of illegal imports due to non-existent control. "We believe that the other member states are not so naïve as not to carry out any checks, nor do the competent authorities suspect that there may be a network of illegal imports," she notes.