An alarming number of puppies from Eastern Europe are now being sold in the UK with the spread of diseases now a grave concern. That’s the view of Peter Jones, president of the British Veterinary Association.

“We need to look at the enforcement of pet travel rules as vets across the country are reporting serious concerns about animals of unknown origin coming into their practices,” he said.

“The reported 400% rise in pet travel movements since the change in the rules suggests that people are exploiting the non-commercial routes for commercial gain.

“While the changes to the pet travel regulations were shown to keep our disease risk low, we are now witnessing the unintended consequence of large numbers of puppies being brought from Eastern Europe to be sold in the UK. And we do have grave concerns for the welfare of those puppies.

“Perhaps it’s a seed that we can plant in the minds of the Environment Food and Rural Affairs Committee members as they think about the next big topic to tackle.”

The BVA president called for an inquiry into illegal imports of puppies for sale during his annual London dinner speech on Tuesday.

On companion animal issues Mr Jones called on all organisations to get behind the AWF/RSPCA puppy contract when it is reviewed later this year.

“We are grateful to both Defra and the Efra Committee for their support for the puppy contract. When it was launched last year it gained the support of almost all of the major dog welfare organisations. And when it is reviewed this year we very much hope that we can bring everyone on board.

“The key to tackling those ill-advised purchases is education so wouldn’t it be great if we could all sing from the same hymn sheet?”

The full speech is available here