Some 60 puppies of various
breeds were rescued by police Monday after they stopped a van
from Slovakia packed with the animals on a major freeway near
Novara in northwestern Italy.
The dogs were packed into crates stacked one on top of the
other and were likely destined for illegal sale in Italy, police
said.
The van was stopped after police received a complaint from
the Italian Movement for the Protection of Animals and Wolves
(EITAL).
The organization said it suspected a Slovak and an Italian
were involved in the illegal import and trafficking of dogs as
well as animal abuse.
Novara is not far from Italy's borders with Switzerland and
France.
One week ago, prosecutors in the northeastern city of Udine
placed eight suspected pet traffickers under investigation for
animal abuse, abuse of the veterinary profession, fraud and
forgery, sources said.
As well, forest rangers seized animals, assets and real
estate from two dog breeders and a pet store in the area of
Udine, which is located 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the
Slovenian border.
Prosecutors say the suspects trafficked expensive purebred
puppies into Italy from Eastern European countries, forging
their papers and tricking buyers into thinking they had been
locally bred.
That came after a one-year investigation that included
surveillance and tailing of suspects, the sources said.
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