Bought Online, Locked in Quarantine: What Lies Behind the Puppy Trade?

Several Maltese families eagerly awaited the arrival of their puppies. Instead, the animals ended up in government quarantine after serious concerns were raised about their documents, passports and true ages. The case, which is under criminal investigation, raises an important question: what are we really funding when we buy a puppy from an online advert?

In a recent case in Malta, several families bought puppies through an agent who advertised different breeds online, sourced them from abroad and arranged for them to be brought into Malta.

The families expected to receive healthy puppies with all the required, valid documentation. They had chosen their puppies, paid for them and started preparing to welcome a new member into their homes.

However, when the puppies arrived in Malta, events took a very different turn.

Serious concerns were raised about the validity of their documents, the information recorded in their passports and even the puppies’ true ages. The authorities intervened, detained the animals and placed them in government quarantine.

Instead of going to the homes waiting for them, the puppies ended up isolated in quarantine. The families were left without the animals they had paid for and facing uncertainty, expenses and emotional distress.

More Than a Mistake in the Paperwork

This is not simply a case of a missing document or an administrative error. The case is under criminal investigation because of suspicions surrounding the documentation and the way in which the puppies were brought into Malta.

If passports or official documents were falsified, if the puppies’ ages were deliberately altered, or if misleading information was used to enable the animals to travel and be sold, these would be serious allegations requiring a thorough investigation.

The authorities must establish who organised the importation, who prepared or supplied the documents, who transported the puppies and who stood to profit from their sale.

Families who may have been deceived should not automatically be made to carry the entire burden or be treated as though they were responsible for the irregularities. If they bought the puppies in good faith and were assured that everything was being done legally, they too may be victims of this case.

The law should not be used only to keep the puppies in quarantine. It should also be used to identify those responsible and, where sufficient evidence exists, bring them to justice.

Where Do Puppies Advertised Online Come From?

When one person continually advertises many different breeds and promises that almost any type of puppy can be sourced from abroad, this should be treated as a warning sign.

Many puppies sold through this type of trade may come from puppy mills: large-scale breeding facilities where profit is prioritised over animal welfare.

In such places, mother dogs may be kept in poor conditions and repeatedly used for breeding. Puppies may be separated from their mothers too early, deprived of essential care and socialisation, and transported for long hours while they are still extremely vulnerable.

The buyer sees an attractive photograph, a desirable breed and a promise that the puppy will arrive soon. What they do not see is where the puppy was born, the condition of its mother, the journey it endured or how many other animals have passed through the same system.

Why Does the Puppy’s True Age Matter?

A puppy’s age is not merely a detail written in a passport.

For a puppy to travel legally, requirements relating to identification, rabies vaccination, the validity of that vaccination and the relevant documentation must be followed. A puppy that is too young may not yet have reached the required age or completed the necessary waiting period after vaccination.

If the date of birth is altered on the documents, a puppy that is genuinely too young may appear eligible to travel. This can endanger not only the puppy’s health, but also that of other animals and the wider public.

A passport alone does not guarantee that everything has been done correctly. All the details must correspond: the date of birth, microchip number, rabies vaccination date, veterinary information and the animal’s stated origin.

Warning Signs Before Buying a Puppy

Before paying for a puppy advertised online:

• ask who the breeder is and where the puppy was born;

• insist on seeing the puppy with its mother in the place where it was raised;

• do not rely solely on attractive photographs or short videos;

• request a live video call and copies of the documents before paying;

• check whether the dates, microchip details and vaccinations make sense;

• be cautious if the seller offers many different breeds;

• do not allow anyone to pressure you into paying a deposit immediately;

• question promises that a very young puppy can be delivered from abroad within days.

  
  

Even a high price does not guarantee that a puppy came from a responsible breeder. Words such as “purebred”, “pedigree” or “family raised”, together with professional photographs, can be used to give legitimacy to a trade that may conceal considerable suffering.

Do Not Buy a Photograph

When you see a puppy in a photograph, with those innocent eyes staring back at you, it is easy to feel that buying the puppy means saving it.

You may tell yourself: “I will give this puppy a beautiful home. I will love it. I will give it the life it deserves.”

And that puppy may genuinely need love.

But the money you pay does not go towards that puppy alone. It may flow back into a system in which its mother continues to be used for breeding... a system that separates her from one litter after another until she is no longer profitable.

As long as people continue to buy, more puppies will continue to be produced and transported in the same way.

Behind every beautiful photograph is a story that remains unseen. There may be a mother who has never left a cage, a puppy separated from her far too early, a long and frightening journey, or documents that do not tell the truth.

If you cannot see where the puppy came from, who bred it, the conditions in which it lived and whether its documents are valid, you cannot truly know what you are funding.

A false date can be written in a passport in seconds. But the first months of a puppy’s life can never be given back.

You cannot restore the time it should have spent with its mother. You cannot erase the fear of a journey made when it was far too young. And you cannot undo the suffering of the dogs left behind to produce more puppies.

So do not buy a photograph. Verify the life behind it.

Ask questions. Investigate. Insist on seeing where the puppy came from. If something does not make sense, do not proceed simply because you have already fallen in love with the puppy on your screen.

Sometimes, the most loving decision is not to buy a puppy in an attempt to “save” that one animal. It is refusing to fund the system causing the suffering of many others.

If you suspect illegal trading, do not buy. Keep the information and report it to the authorities.

Because compassion does not begin when the puppy arrives home. It begins with the choice we make before bringing it there.

Full Episode in Maltese https://youtu.be/r4wtjs-Da8U