SHUTTERSHOCK Animal charities are bringing thousands of stray dogs from overseas to the UK

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Donna Pont and her eight-year-old daughter Chloe have spent the past two years helping their beloved dog Ladybug to grow in confidence. She spent the first seven years of her life on the streets of war-torn Afghanistan before finding shelter at a centre for Afghan widows and orphans in Kabul but Donna still won’t leave the dog on her own with her daughter at their home in Wisborough Green, West Sussex. “To all intents and purposes these are feral dogs; to expect them just to slot into family life as a pet is unrealistic,” says Donna, who admits that rehoming an animal from abroad has been “enormously challenging”. “Ladybug was scaling a blast wall next to the building in Kabul to feed her pups when she was found,” Donna says. “Even now, 21 months on, it’s not easy. “Dogs can bite, it’s their defence mechanism, so you have to really trust that the rescue organisation knows the background of the animal.”

REX Charity K9rescue with strays at the Calais Animal Reception Centre

You are not taking on a normal dog but if you are careful it can work Carolyn Menteith

She arranged Ladybug’s rehoming with Nowzad, the only dog shelter in Afghanistan. More than 30 charities bring dogs to the UK and figures have been rising steadily. Last year, about 30,000 dogs arrived from the EU according to government figures – more than 11,000 of them from Romania. Yet leading canine welfare charities are against the growing trend, despite the fact that 20 million stray dogs are killed globally every year – one every 38 minutes – according to animal rehoming charity, K9rescue. Dogs Trust, the UK’s largest dog welfare charity, is part of the EU Cat & Dog Alliance whose member organisations believe that international rehoming of cats and dogs should not be carried out as standard practice. “While we understand the instinctive desire, there is a risk of dogs from overseas harbouring diseases that are not found in the UK,” says a spokesperson. Battersea Dogs & Cats Home is also against the practice, especially as they have seen a rise in the dogs brought to them by people who have chosen to go abroad specifically to bring one back. “This doesn’t always work out and they then look to Battersea and other rescue centres to take it in and re-home it,” says spokesperson Debbie Chapman.

The sanctuary’s vets then need to check such dogs for diseases. “Battersea is fully aware that the stray dog and cat problem in some countries can be severe and these animals often have a very tough existence,” she adds. “However, bringing them to the UK is not the solution and can cause considerable health risks.” Dogs arriving in the UK from Europe must be vaccinated and at least 15 weeks of age but Jason Yorke, director of the charity A Better Life Dog Rescue, says puppy traffickers often do not follow the rules. “The majority come from Bulgaria and Lithuania. You see them taking tiny puppies off their vans at Calais and I say to officers from Defra [Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs] ‘please tell me you’ve caught some’. “These people don’t want to spend on vaccinations and bring them in far too young,” continues Yorke, whose charity has re-homed 800 strays from Romania in the past four years. He says the dogs his charity brings in are “mongrels with a very balanced temperament”, that must live in a Romanian shelter first. There, they are vaccinated and tested for problems such as food aggression. Unsuitable candidates then work with animal behaviourists and are only put down as a last resort.

NC Chloe with beloved Ladybug, rescued from Kabul