Action plan against illegal trade cats and dogsPlaced at 14:08h abroad, europe by Open VLDThe illegal pet trade must be stopped and punished more strictly, according to the European Parliament in a resolution that this afternoon was adopted.

MEP Hilde Vautmans said: "Around 46 000 dogs would be trafficked in the EU every month. A large majority of them are not registered and are illegally trafficked by organised criminal networks, which abuse European regulations that make it easier to travel across borders with their own cat or dog. We even note that the number of illegally trafficked pets increases every year. This increase is largely due to the increase in pet sales, which has so far been little regulated and thus encourages illegal activities. The large number can also be explained by the fact that identification and registration requirements for cats and dogs in the different Member States are not harmonised. The same applies to the standards for the breeding of pet animals. A situation that illegal networks like to benefit from." The European Parliament therefore calls on the Commission in a resolution to step up the fight against illegal pet trade. Last night, European Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides also issued a statement." Commissioner Kyriakides referred to the fact that the welfare of pet animals is mainly regulated at national level. That's correct, but her answer also disappointed me somewhat. It is just because there are differences between national rules in the Member States, that the problem is increasing. The illegal trade of pet animals across borders is an eminently European fact, which is why it is up to Europe to increase its efforts, to strengthen law enforcement and work together across the sectors and Member States against this criminal activity. A crucial step in this is a harmonised European system of mandatory identification and registration and linked databases, which should improve traceability and control and enable them to intervene more quickly and preventively. Finally, there is also an important task in awareness campaigns. Often people don't know what risks they are when they buy pet animals online, and this through misleading online advertising," says Vautmans.