Please get your fact 100% correct. The illegal puppies are not smuggled in they have forged documents. They are brought in to fill the need of the "I want it NOW brigade"

As to the dogs coming over diseased, dogs from mainland Europe from rescues come in under the Balali agreement & have to spend 49 hours in approved kennels & be inspected by DEFRA before going to there new homes. DEFRA check everything at the kennels, it is not just a quick squint at the dogs & paperwork. They also travel under TRACES, unlike pets & show dogs.

The figures of 75% SBT/Bull breed types is from the general rescues own information BTW

I will continue to support the two rescues I am involved with & I would never look to the UK for a rescue for myself. All the fosters that have been though them have forever homes & the most wonderful temperaments

My facts are from a DEFRA inspector I spoke to yesterday and from our quarantine kennels, who's owner I am friendly with.
The number of dogs PTS comes from sort research I did a couple of years ago, which may have changed but not by a huge amount. It is very hard to accurately say how many dogs are PTS as lots of rescues/ pounds do not admit how many are culled.
The kennels recently took in a Yorkie pup with no vaccines, he was handed over at the local mart, having been shipped across from
Slovakia with no papers at all.
One dog has recently been PTS after being taken across from Greece and another was very close to PTS, luckily being saved ( Romanian dog) this is within the last 4 months in my area.
People have dogs with leishmania and the meds are being taken in from the country they come from as it's cheaper. I know quite a few people who have dogs with this condition.

I too will be fostering a Romanian dog soon. There is simply no comparison between the life of a dog in a shelter here and one over there. Yes, I will only be saving one dog, and no, it won't change the world. But it will mean one less dog being literally tortured to death for someone's entertainment. If unwanted dogs over there were PTS in the same way as they are here then I would see an argument for focussing only on our own dogs. But they are not. Here the majority of dogs are not PTS at all anyway, they are rehomed. Over there almost none are rehomed without being taken out of the country, they are all sentenced to death. And they are killed in more disgusting and painful ways than you can possibly imagine. A vet doesn't come anywhere near them, the government pay animal-hating thugs to do it in whatever way pleases them the most.

And adopting a Staffie in this country will not make any difference to the problem here either by the way. But that doesn't mean nobody should bother doing it. So I'm sorry but the argument of "it's only one dog" really doesn't mean anything.

But of course there's nothing wrong with focussing your attention on dogs in UK pounds if that's how you feel, that's fine. But there's also nothing wrong wanting to make life better for some poor innocent dog who was just born in the wrong place.

Whoever bought that Yorkie pup was a total fool. That sort of puppy dealing is a very different issue to the rehoming of European dogs from public shelters.

This is the original question, it does not specify rescues.
I agree the person was an idiot but many people are if it means they get a cheap puppy. The quarantine kennels has had quite a few french bulldog puppies who have been shipped over, why, because they can be bought for less than those here and they cost a lot. Lets face it, there are plenty of warnings about seeing the puppy in a family environment, with its mother, yet there are still puppy farms pumping out pups in horrendous conditions. People are still meeting breeders in car parks or letting them be delivered to the house, meaning these farms can continue to run.

Peoples opinions were asked, I have given mine, its fine if other people want to adopt from abroad, but i feel that the money would do more good if it was donated to rescues there, without dogs having to be transported, so they could build decent shelters, neuter and educate.
Surely making changes at the source will help more dogs than those adopted here. Yes, I agree that at least one is saved but dogs are losing their lives here too, may not be as violent but they are still dying.
That is my opinion, I would never critise someone who has rescued these dogs and I'm friends with some people who have.

I imported my dog for a few different reasons. Firstly, genetic diversity among his breed is important and there an increasing number of Imports being introduced into the country. My puppy is the only one from his breeder in this country and with a very unique blood line and pedigree. Secondly, I much prefer the look and working ability of European dogs. I was only interested in a dog with a good working pedigree with potential to excel in similar sports.

Didn't see the original question being about rescue dogs specifically, so hope that helps answer your question tumbleweed from another perspective.

Just to throw more into the mix, why not just import sperm from a dog abroad if it is bloodlines one is after if that is possible?

I don't think you can show ai dogs? Or only under exceptional circumstances. Could be wrong!

Yes they can, but AI breedings have a much lower success rate & is very expensive

Without necessarily being for or against the idea of rescuing foreign dogs, I do wonder if we are not unwittingly contributing to the problem. I'm sure by now people in those countries are starting to figure out there are tons of bleeding hearts over here whole will dig deep to import a dog?
Is that not going to result in a booming puppy farm business over there?

I understand a lot of the problems in those countries stem from unspayed strays and a totally different attitude towards animals and their worth.

I'm not convinced either way I have to say.