Olivia supports campaign to end cruel puppy farm imports - Mirror

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Olivia supports campaign to end cruel puppy farm imports

Dog lovers Simon Cowell and Olivia Newton-John back Mirror’s Ban Puppy Imports campaign

Celebs including Simon Cowell and Dame Olivia Newton-John are supporting a campaign to end cruel puppy farm imports.

The Mirror is backing calls to ban what is described as a “legal but immoral” route to market for young puppies bred up to thousands of miles away in horrific conditions, removed from their mums too early and then sold to unsuspecting Brit customers.

Currently, the animals need to be at least 15 weeks old before they are allowed into the UK. We are calling for this age to be raised to at least six months – which campaigners believe will make border checks easier to enforce as the puppies’ permanent teeth will have come through by then.

By raising the import age of the puppies by just 11 weeks to 26 weeks, it would therefore be easier to identify those that are too young, especially as often paperwork is easily faked from countries such as Russia, Hungary, and Romania.

Campaigners also believe the move would effectively put a huge dent in the market as most buyers don’t want puppies advertised as six-months or older, with the majority of breeders less keen to keep pups on their establishments for that long either.

Celebrities this week praised the Mirror for formally endorsing the campaign, which was started by Lucy Parkinson, from Preston, Lancs, whose Government e-petition has attracted more than 66,000 signatures in just two weeks.

She is being supported by celebrity vet Marc Abraham, who spearheaded Lucy’s Law which banned the third-party sale of puppies and kittens in England – an important welfare campaign the Mirror also proudly supported.

And Dame Olivia Newton-John said: “I am appalled to learn about the horrible conditions and treatment of puppies being imported into the UK from breeders with no compassion or love for these dogs – only greed. Cruelty to animals is hideous beyond imagination and this needs to be stopped immediately.”

Olivia Newton John and Raven are backing the campaign ( Image: Denise Truscello)