The motives behind illegal puppy importation are not immediately obvious. No matter how importers falsify puppies’ ages on paper, their true age can be determined by examining their teeth. In stressful, cramped conditions, they are especially prone to heat stroke and respiratory distress. Airlines in the United States have started banning these breeds from their flights, as do most airlines in Europe and Australia. At higher risks for death are the popular French and English bulldogs (both brachycephalic breeds-their smooshed noses make it harder to breathe normally). Since Operation Dog Catcher’s start at JFK, seven illegally imported underage puppies arrived dead in the United States. Shipping dogs in crates as cargo has its risks. USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) oversees animal welfare pertaining to the shipment of puppies. If dogs don’t meet CDC’s or USDA’s importation requirements, they may be deported back to their countries of origin. Rabies almost always causes death.įurther, USDA requires puppies to be healthy and at least 6 months old if imported for resale to help prevent the foreign fraudulent importation of sick and underage dogs. When puppies are vaccinated at 12 weeks, it takes a month for them to gain their own protective rabies antibodies to be fully immunized. CDC’s age requirement is timed for when puppies are developing their own immune system. Puppies can’t be vaccinated for rabies before they’re 12 weeks old, because their mothers’ antibodies prevent the vaccine’s protection. And they must be at least 4 months old to be properly immunized against dog rabies, which has been eradicated from the United States since 2007. ![]() ![]() Puppies’ true ages can be determined by examining their teeth, even though illegal importers may falsify the dogs’ ages on their papers.Īll dogs coming into the United States are required to be healthy. One of these laws is CDC’s federal regulation for proper rabies immunization for every dog arriving from a high-risk country for dog rabies before entering the United States. Stationed at more than 300 US ports of entry, CBP works with 40 other US government agencies, including CDC, US Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Food and Drug Administration, to enforce more than 400 federal laws. Government regulationsĬBP functions on our country’s front lines to secure US borders while facilitating lawful travel and trade. He named the plan “Operation Dog Catcher.” To form a strike team, he brought in CDC public health officers and veterinarians from AirHeart Pet Hospital inside The ARK, CBP’s biosecurity, 24-hour animal care and veterinary facility at JFK airport. In response, Bowles drafted a heightened surveillance plan to address these illegal puppy importations, finding it similar to busting narcotics smugglers. Brushing it off as a fluke, his mind changed when underage puppies started arriving weekly, even daily, in large shipments of 44 or 48 at a time, as opposed to 1 or 2 passengers’ pets. ![]() In October 2017, Deputy Chief Bowles first overheard fellow officers complaining about hordes of puppies arriving at JFK on international flights. A 17-year expert on preventing narcotics smuggling, Deputy Chief of Cargo James Bowles realized he was confronting another kind of illegal importation, of the cuter variety. “I just wanted to take them home,” said the burly CBP officer at seeing the puppies’ miserable plight. Witnessing the scene was a team of federal agents from the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and JFK’s veterinarians accredited by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). All were young puppies-most too young to leave their mothers-cowering and huddling in their cages, shivering while covered in their own waste after their long international flight. Kennedy International Airport, the belly of the Boeing passenger jet opened to reveal the cargo hold filled with stacked crates of whimpering dogs, many more than usual.
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