this is bbc news, the headlines... at least 18 people have died after severe weather hit parts of the united states. there've been powerful tornadoes in the southern state of arkansas, killing at least three people and injuring dozens of others. "a slap in the face to the international community" — that's the assessment of ukraine's foreign minister to russia assuming the presidency of the un security council. politicians in iran

are reacting to the flouting of headscarf laws by women by insisting the rules must be �*enforced rigorously�* byjudges. in the uk, the port of dover has declared a critical incident with up to 70 coaches delayed overnight as they tried to cross to france. port authorities cited french border controls and bad weather for the hold ups. at ten o'clock, lukwesa burak will be here with a full round—up of the day's news. first our world: inside the illegal puppy trade. chloe, would we like to be in a video about how much i love you? and you, bambi? dogs have never been more popular. in the uk, we bought 3.2 million pets during lockdown. in europe, puppies are now a multibillion euro industry. but where are all these puppies coming from?

for the first time, our world unveils a criminal underworld of puppy traders trafficking dogs across europe. they came here to resell those dogs in england. those englishmen, they also dealt in drugs. the criminals are breeding dogs in unlicensed puppy mills in hungary. these dogs suffer abuse and neglect. the dogs are sold into a vast pet trade network in western europe that handles 8 million puppies a year. many are illegally passed off as the offspring of a much—loved family pet.

hungary has emerged as a dog breeding power in europe. in the last two years, it's legally exported over 70,000 puppies within the eu. a huge network of puppy farms grew up here after the collapse of the soviet union. the system changed. the state farms and co—operative farms were privatised. so, people stopped working with cows, stopped working with swine and the italian tradesmen came into hungary and saw a big business, and they started to build up a network of puppy producers here in hungary, and then the people, step—by—step, realised that they can make money on dogs instead of keeping swine and rabbits, and they put these animals in the place of the swine and poultry and rabbit.

the industry is controlled by the government through licensing and farms are expected to conform to animal welfare standards but anyone can register online to be a breeder without any initial checks. this is puspokladany. this town ofjust 16,000 people has 154 registered breeders. the nebih is the government agency charged with carrying out random checks of hungary's nearly 3,000 breeders. our world has joined them today on one of their inspections lead by chief vet dr attila boncz. but this breeder has passed the inspection. the vet in charge says they don't have anything to report to us. but some audio between nebih inspectors, captured minutes earlier, reveals some findings.

they conclude this farm follows the regulations and remains legal. nebih says they had a private exchange of opinions, and their views should not be linked to the authority's findings. puppy farming is good business. a buyer in western europe will pay a minimum of 1000 euros per puppy — the average monthly wage in hungary. this has attracted criminals who breed dogs in terrible conditions.

these dogs were found in sojtor, in hungary. they were locked in the dark, lying on their own faeces, and carcasses of other dead dogs. these illegal breeding sites are known as puppy mills. illegal breeders cram in as many dogs as possible to produce litter after litter of puppies. these puppies ultimately find their way into legal markets. in hungary, most of the operations against puppy mills are initiated by charities. edina nemedi was one of the animal rescuers involved in closing down the puppy mill in sojtor.

edina now cares for some dogs she's rescued from the puppy mills across hungary. the recent discoveries of the farm's conditions has led to international pressure for hungary to tighten their laws. convicted puppy mill owners now face jail.

in puspokladany, the nebih have had a tip off about an illegal puppy mill. there's a bad smell coming from the insides and nobody is looking after the dogs. after several hours of waiting, the owner turns up. in 2020, pupsliu was one of the main exporters of hungarian puppies, sending nearly 4,000 dogs to belgium, a huge puppy market in europe. after the inspection, the nebih has found more than ten dogs with ear, skin, and eye infections. hungarian law states that if conditions lead to long—term health damage or death then the site is defined as a puppy mill. the nebih decides that that's not the case in this instance and they will only impose a fine and inspect again in the near future.

but the decision is contentious. this is a qualified case. if you don't treat an ear infection, then it goes down and down and down, and that is animal cruelty. our world contacted pupsliu but they did not respond. the booming puppy trade in hungary is attracting traders from all over europe. some of them come to markets looking for a cheap deal. once they collect enough puppies for a shipment, they send them off legally to their clients. edina has come to kecskemet market, looking for puppy sellers. edina's concerned that puppies bred with low welfare standards are making their way into the legal international market. this registered breeder has nine dachshund puppies left

and he's sold all the females to an austrian trader. he's charging 100 euros a puppy. edina is going to buy one to check its credentials. hey, aw. to sell puppies legally, they must be at least eight weeks old, fully vaccinated, microchipped and registered by a vet on a national database. but a few simple checks reveal the truth. it's likely this puppy has

not been vaccinated. in order to travel legally outside the country, puppies need a pet passport with valid vaccinations and these can only be issued by a vet. corrupt vets sell pet passports to puppy mills owners without vaccinating or even seeing the puppies. this puppy is lucky. edina will give him up for adoption to a good home. those puppies left might face a gruelling journey to markets in the west where they can be sold for anything up to 3,000 euros each. the most lucrative markets are in belgium and the uk, a journey of over 1,000 miles. thousands of puppies are smuggled through borders hidden in vehicles. most pass through germany on their route west.

german police mount regular patrols looking for puppy smugglers. in 2021, they seized nearly 2,000 puppies being smuggled across the country. in the same year, the uk saw a 260% increase in puppy smuggling. in response, it's proposed to ban the import of dogs under six months old. but that would not always deter the smugglers. this car and van travelling in convoy were stopped by german police. inside they found eight adult dachshunds split between the two vehicles. the dogs were being transported from hungary to the uk in terrible conditions.

the shipment was also bigger than it initially looked. four of the dogs were heavily pregnant. at the shelter, they gave birth to 21 puppies which would have been worth about £42,000 on the british market. the trafficker had pet passports for some of the dogs, stating they were his pets. but the evidence shows that he had most likely sourced them from a puppy mill. the dachshunds were being transported by a man called peter hovorka. after the dogs were seized, he was released without charge. a couple of days later, he was caught again, this time at the british border, where he had more dogs seized.

dog trafficking can carryjail sentences, but traffickers are very rarely prosecuted. our world contacted peter hovorka but he did not respond. once the puppies are out of hungary, illegal traders have to create a story around the puppies to sell them. a team of government vets have been working with four paws, the country's biggest animal welfare charity, to try to crack down on this illegal trade. criminal gangs are now moving into the puppy trade,

so the vets have asked that we mask their identity. the team is finding an increase in the number of online ads linked to the illegal puppy trade. it's not really difficult to find suspicious ads online. this ad just says "boxer puppies". they are asking 1,200 euros per puppy. and i got this picture of the father. i checked the picture with google lens and found this picture here. it's a stolen picture. this can't be the father dog. this is a fake account set up to look like the puppy was from a family home. selling a small number of puppies born from your own pets is perfectly legal. but in order to sell large numbers of puppies,

you need to be registered as a commercial breeder and have regular inspections and pay taxes on the sales. selling through social media and online auction sites allows illegal traders to set up multiple accounts. many of these claim to be selling puppies born from family pets. this seller has been linked to a network that's sold many puppies. the investigatorfrom four paws is trying to arrange a test purchase to confirm the evidence. this is a risky operation. one of the team goes ahead

with a hidden camera, posing as a buyer. only once they're in the flat and can see the puppy will the investigators and police confront the seller. with the puppy located, the rest of the team and the police close in on the flat. hallo!

the seller is unable to prove where he got the puppy from, so it's seized. the vets suspect the puppy has been smuggled into the country. legally imported puppies need a pet passport and proof of vaccination.

this puppy has neither, so will have to go into quarantine. given the seller's record, it's likely this puppy was one of many that were smuggled from hungary. this shelter is part of a network near cologne that takes in puppies seized from the illegal dog trade. should in the last few weeks, they've taken in 69 puppies that were trafficked from hungary. all of the puppies here were being transported to belgium. belgium is one of the main markets for puppies bred in hungary and other eastern european countries.

every year, belgium legally imports around 19,000 puppies from eastern europe. thousands of puppies arrive at wholesale pet shops, like this one, where clients can order through click and collect. in belgium, it's legal to sell puppies in pet shops but it's illegal to source them from puppy mills. vet kirsten visited some wholesale puppy traders where she spotted illnesses commonly found in puppy mills. the director is showing her footage filmed at one of the traders she visited.

our world has tracked down an ex—worker from this wholesale pet shop who's agreed to talk to us. translation: there were dogs dying every day. - you had days when you had to pick up ten in a day. the workload was very heavy. with only two employees, we didn't have enough staff for all of those dogs. drinking nipples were also installed. dogs then have to push on those with their noses and then,

they get water. but not all dogs understand that or some dogs, like chihuahuas, are too small to get to them, so they didn't drink. anyone can buy as many puppies as they want here, no questions asked. british gangs have bought puppies here looking to cash in on this lucrative trade. they came here to resell those dogs in england. those englishmen, they also dealt in drugs. they bought about 20 dogs when they visited. they showed me the car and i saw that it was already full of dogs. theyjust threw ours in there. i once saw a picture of their boss. he lived in a mega—huge house with three or four bentleys in the driveway. they really do have plenty of money. anthony godfroid has won civil cases against belgium shops selling sick puppies from puppy mills. they lose a lot of money

because of me, because every case costs them 4,000—5,000 euros, more or less. but i don't cost them enough money because they make millions. and, ok, if there are seven convictions per year, maybe it's 40,000 euro. that is not a real problem for them. jail sentences for illegally trading in dogs are extremely rare and require investigations into criminal networks across borders that few authorities are prepared to tackle. these dogs have all been rescued from illegal breeders and traffickers. but thousands are trapped in puppy mills which produce tens of thousands of puppies that are now flooding the market. there aren't enough credible breeders to meet the huge demand for puppies so, for now, the most effective way of fighting against the illegal puppy trade is to do thorough research where

the puppy comes from. hello there. the met office confirmed that last month of march was indeed a very wet month, pretty much across the country, but especially across england and wales. and we ended the month on a damp, windy, wet note with a deep area of low pressure which has been pulling away gradually. so the next few days, certainly for the first week of april, it's looking quieter as high pressure starts to build in to bring you some sunshine as well.

but the legacy left behind by that area of low pressure means it will hold on to quite a lot of cloud. further spots of rain this evening across western scotland, northern ireland. but through the night it will turn drierfor many. we'll see the clouds tending to break up with clear spells developing where skies clear. it will turn quite chilly under the cloud with more of a breeze in the south—east as well. then no lower than five to seven degrees. you can see this area of high pressure starting to build in across the uk. we lose the low pressure system which will pull away from the south—east, taking the fresh north—easterly breeze with it through the day on sunday. so we'll see the clouds melting away across many areas. it could hold on, though, across central northern scotland, maybe the odd shower here. but most places will be dry, increasing sunshine, so feeling a bit warmer away from north sea coast, which will still feel quite chilly with an onshore breeze there. but the winds become even lighter across all areas through sunday night. and with clear skies, it's going to be a recipe for quite a cold night.

by the end of the night, it will turn chilly enough for a touch of frost in places, some sub—zero values, particularly out of towns and cities. but it means as we head into monday, the start of the first working week of april, with high pressure overhead, it's going to be fine and dry. it's going to be a cold start, some frost around, early mist and fog, which will tend to lift in clare. good advice —— which will tend to lift and clear. and then most places will be dry with plenty of sunshine, including much of the north of scotland and also northern ireland. winds coming in from the south—east. so again, cooler around some southern and eastern coast, but further west with the sunshine around after that cold start, it could be up to around 13 degrees. a bit of a blip in the weather around the middle part of the week. we see a high pressure retreat allowing these weather fronts to bring some wind, cloud and rain to northern and western areas for a time. but then it looks like high pressure wants to build back in towards the end of the week and indeed for the run up to the easter weekend. so all in all, i think for many, particularly southern and eastern

areas, it should stay fine, dry, unsettled. —— and settled.

this is bbc world news. i'm lukwesa burak. our top stories... devastating tornadoes tear through america's midwest. at least 18 people have died. politicians in iran are reacting to the flouting of headscarf laws by women, insisting the rules must be enforced rigorously. "a slap in the face to the international community" — that's the assessment of ukraine's foreign minister to russia assuming the presidency of the un security council. and a critical incident has been declared in dover, as passengers are gridlocked for hours at the start of the easter getaway.