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tv   Our World  BBC News  August 25, 2023 3:30am-4:01am BST

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voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. 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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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,
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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.
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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
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"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.
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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.
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with the puppy located, the rest of the team and the police close in on the flat. hallo!
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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
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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. 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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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hello there. let's look at the weather for the week ahead. the last week of summer 2023 and it is determined to go out on an unsettled note. it won't always be raining. quite a bit of dry weather and sunshine as well. low pressure to the north of the uk today. that kept it unsettled the time is made for a few of us. coming we sunshine and showers, and some of the showers could be heavy with thunder. but it won't always be raining. there will be quite a bit of dry weather between any wet weather and there will be some sunshine as well. at the low pressure unfortunately going nowhere are. tomorrow
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some northerly winds will get the north and the west a little cooler and fresher. patchy rain for northern ireland and scotland. further south, scattered showers popping up. some of those potentially heavy with some thunder and lightning. quite a bit of cloudy gathering too. towards the southeast of england, it will feel noticeably cooler, down by about five celsius. 20-21 down by about five celsius. 20—21 celsius in london, compared to 25—26 celsius this week. into saturday, those northerly winds will continue to keep it feeling fresh towards the north and west of the uk. there will be —— there will be lighterfurther the uk. there will be —— there will be lighter further south and east. during the day, patchy rain to begin with, particularly for northern areas of england and into wales. through the day, scattered showers are likely to pop up almost anywhere and once again we do have a risk that some of them could be heavy with hail and thunder. but in between the showers, a good bit of dry weather and some sunshine as well with temperatures across the board pretty much average for the time of year. sunday is going to see another weather system coming in from the
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atlantic, bringing cloud at first, then rain, especially for northern ireland. cloudy conditions pushing into some western areas of britain. first thing we will have quite a bit of rain around for northern ireland. as that nudges to the east it will begin to fizzle out. not an awful lot of rain onceit out. not an awful lot of rain once it crosses over into northern areas of britain. but scotland may get a little bit about with some showers or parts of north—eastern england. towards the southeast, sunny skies, perhaps, and temperatures of 20— 21 celsius — not too bad. further north and west, under that cloud cover with a little bit of rain, it's likely to feel cooler. monday is a bank holiday for most of us, and what can i say? it is looking pretty good. lots of dry weather. it will be cloudy at times especially in the north and west but even here there will be some sunny spells. it looks as though the best of the sunshine will be reserved for central and south—eastern england with temperatures reaching the low 20s, so feeling lies in that sunshine. not a bad picture for monday. 0nce not a bad picture for monday. once that is out of the way the
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low pressure once again takes over, coming infrom low pressure once again takes over, coming in from the atlantic, and it is said to bring more unsettled weather our way. some of that will be mainly held over for northern ireland and into scotland, outbreaks of rain. some of the rain could nudge into parts of northern england. possibly the isolated shower popping up further south but generally for central and south—eastern england, largely dry throughout the day. where we get the sunshine, too, it was real nice, with 20—21 b hires. here the picture. low pressure in charge today, tomorrow, the weekend, and through to the middle of next week at least. an unsettled and to summer 2023. once we get bank holiday monday out of the way, it may be improving a little bit for the likes of belfast and into edinburgh, with some sunny spells developing elsewhere.
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live from washington,
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this is bbc news. fulton county officials have released the mugshot of former president donald trump after his booking in georgia. and the us defense department says it is likely that the head of the wagner mercenary group yevgeny prigozhin was killed in a russian plane crash. i'm sumi somaskanda. thank you forjoining us. we start with an eventful past few hours and the surrendering of donald trump to authorities in the us state of georgia. let's recap how things unfolded. we started with mr trump making his way down the stairs of the plane his supporters like to call trump force one. his motorcade then started the 14—mile journey to the fulton countyjail — that's about 22 kilometres. helicopters gave us the bird's—eye view throughout the trip. mr trump pulled up to the jail just after 7:30pm local time. inside, he was fingerprinted and he had his mugshot taken.
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he is the first former us president to have

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