Pet shop owner fined for selling puppy illegally
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A pet shop owner who forged an underage puppy's passport and sold the animal online to an unsuspecting Plymouth couple has been fined more than £3,000 by a court.
Artur Zuchowicz, 33, from Carmarthenshire in Wales, was convicted of two offences after placing a misleading advert on gumtree.com.
Plymouth Magistrates' Court heard the French bulldog puppy was not ready for re-homing as it was too young to have had a valid rabies jab.
The puppy was sold with a pet passport containing a fake date of birth.
Puppies under the age of 15 weeks are not allowed to be imported into the UK, as the earliest age they can be given a rabies vaccination is 12 weeks.
A further three week period must elapse before they can enter the UK.
The dog in this case was estimated to be between nine and 12 weeks old.
Plymouth magistrates fined Zuchowicz a total of £3,421 including £405 for each offence, £1,748 costs and a victim surcharge of £40.
A compensation order of £823 was awarded to the purchasers of the puppy.
Plymouth City Council's trading standards team said the advert failed to state that the defendant was a trader – a banned practice under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations – and that the puppy was ready for rehoming on February 25, 2016.
The council had to take the puppy from the purchasers and quarantine it so the proper vaccinations could be given.
After the quarantine period was over, the dog was returned to its owners, but died several months later after suffering seizures.
33-year-old Zuchowicz pleaded guilty to the two offences and said in mitigation that he felt guilty and it will not happen again.
He no longer has a pet shop licence nor sells dogs. He is now a fisherman.
Cllr Lynda Bowyer said: "Cases like this are really upsetting because ultimately it's the poor dogs that suffer.
"I don't think people realise that by paying a bargain price for a designer dog you may be paying for a puppy that has been brought into this country illegally, which has possibly been bred on a puppy farm and taken away from their mothers too young, leaving them susceptible to illness.
"These puppies are often sold via adverts on the internet and in newspaper small ads. The dogs are accompanied by incomplete, false and forged documentation which lead buyers to believe they have been imported legally or bred in the UK."
If you have any concerns about a puppy you have bought, call Citizen's Advice consumer service on 03434 040506.
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