CLINICA VETERINARIA

Gran Alacant Exotics

Calle Holanda 9, MASA Square I T: 966 698 569

Monday - Friday 10:00 -13:00 & 17:00 - 20:00

Saturday 10:00 -13:00

Liliana Aldeguer Cerdán 793

English translation by Sergio Reina Esteban col 747

PUNISHMENT FITS THE CRIME (LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS)

I’m sure it’s not the first time we write in this magazine about the criminal procedures some “pet shops” are being using for decades with total impunity.

Here is a little reminder about them:

• Pet shop with offices all over Spain: a pet shop is not a bank or a transnational corporation, so if it has lots of offices everywhere, this normally means its profit range is much bigger than the average one, and this normally indicates its procedures are not “normal”.

• I can get you the breed you want. A serious breeder is normally specialized in one or, maximum, two breeds. So those “jacks of all trades, masters of none”, must be considered as suspicious (and always avoided).

• Depending of the type of client, they will tell you: “lucky you, you are purchasing a champion of Slovakia (or Romania, or...)”, or if they realize you have some info about Eastern Europe dogs, they will tell you instead: “yes, the dog has a microchip that must be “activated”, but I swear you it was born in Spain”.

• 90% dogs they sell have a health problem, and even most of them die. But “no problem, here you have another one”.

We have had this problem in Spain for a long time because it has had a powerful feedback for these reasons:

• People’s disinformation. Every potential pet owner must know what’s behind that lovely puppy that waves its tail behind the showcase, and a good way to get the info is having a look to some Youtube videos about Eastern Europe puppy farms, unless, of course, you are a sensitive person, because those videos remind me more

Auschwitz-Birkenau that “the happy puppy farm”.

• People’s feelings. Now you have your puppy, now you know it’s seriously ill, now you know you have been cheated by a gangster, but “it’s my baby and I’m not going to refuse it”. That’s very normal and very human but it makes the vicious circle never end.

• Authorities do NOTHING to stop this criminal business.

Well, according to the latest news, this is starting to change: Last month, in Valencia, the owners of one of those pet shops in Valencia (with offices in many Spanish cities, of course) are been sued and are facing six years in prison, and which is even more important, another six years of disqualification for working with animals. The facts happened in 2016, and the three business partners trafficked illegally with hundreds of puppies of different breeds from Slovakia, with false documentation. At their arrival at the pet shop, they were sold immediately, not passing any quarantine, and lying about their real age (I must tell that the real age of a puppy for sale at a pet shop is as reliable as the odometer of a second hand car) and their vaccines, and with a sinister warranty: if the puppy dies we will give you another one. Just like a mobile or a chair.

Desolated clients who lost their puppies (and their money in veterinary treatments), reported the police. Some officers searched the shop for evidence and found the puppies were enclosed in small cages full of urine and faeces, and there were lots of dead dogs in a fridge. Besides, there were some dogs connected to drippings despite the business was not a vet practice, as a matter of fact, the facilities didn’t even have a license (nucleo zoológico) which is mandatory in this cases.

So, what do we have here?

A) It was a prosperous business, for one simple reason: that puppy you bought in Spain for €900 was probably purchased in Slovakia for €20. Anyone can get rich and open new offices everywhere like this.

B) Lots of different breeds (jacks of all trades, masters of no one)

C) If it dies, here you have a new one

D) I swear you it was born in Spain. So, judge yourselves.

Apart from the prison, the judge made the partners pay a fine and a compensation to the clients for the money they spent in veterinary treatments and for moral damages, which is very reasonable, but, according to the opinion of some lawyers, the most important and useful part is the disqualification for working with animals. Unfortunately, the partners can still appeal, but let’s hope everything remains more or less the same.

Now I know those horrifying facts, so, what do I do if I want to get a pet without supporting this mafia?

Well, you have two options:

• Adopt!!!! The best option. Of course, “adoption” and “pet shop” are antonyms. Some “clever” pet shop dealers have realized the increasing bad reputation of selling puppies, so they offer instead “puppies for adoption”. Remember, animal shelters are the only place to go in those cases, and that if you have to pay, it’s a purchase, not an adoption.

• If you want a pure breed puppy, just call Sociedad Canina (kennel club) at your area, and they will inform you if there is a honest breeder somewhere.

Let’s hope the new Animal Protection Act starts putting things right.