Operation Phylloxera. Illicit trafficking of French bulldog-like puppies and fraud on the market. They exploited VIPs as promoters without their consent
They promised buyers of the puppies the false guarantee of recognition of the breed of the dogs purchased, as well as the possibility of participating in world-class events
Operation Phylloxera. Illicit trafficking of French bulldog-like puppies and fraud on the market. They exploited VIPs as promoters without their consent.
At the end of a complex and in-depth investigation activity carried out by the CITES Carabinieri Group - Anti-Poaching and Animal Crimes Operational Section (SOARDA), by the Ravenna Forestry Carabinieri Unit and by the Ravenna Flying Squad, they were carried out with the collaboration of the Cites Carabinieri Unit of Naples the personal precautionary measures ordered by the Judge for Preliminary Investigations of Ravenna - Dr. Andrea Galanti - at the request of the Public Prosecutor's Office of Ravenna - Public Prosecutor Dr. Marilù Gattelli for the crime of transnational criminal association aimed at the illicit trafficking of numerous French bulldog-like puppies and fraud on the market as they were sold at high prices very high purebred puppies, but in reality without any commercial value.
The long and detailed investigation activities involved various countries, in particular Slovakia where the "I puppies of Carlotta" kennel, advertised on the major social channels as a purebred dog breeder located in Nitra (SK), illegally moved a large quantity of French Bulldog-like and Pomeranian-like puppies.
Six arrest orders against Italians and foreigners, some of whom are resident or domiciled abroad, being carried out with the collaboration of the collateral Slovak Police service.
Members of the criminal association they exploited well-known faces from sport and entertainment as promoters of the breeding, VIPs who unknowingly lent their faces to the full benefit of the traffickers, thus increasing the purchase price of the puppies which even exceeded 3000 euros each.
The investigations have ascertained that all the dogs sold by the criminal association as purebred specimens exorbitant prices to unsuspecting buyers they were in reality French bulldog-like crossbreeds without economic value as all the dogs sold (having no real and official pedigree certification) were without the official certificate of origin-pedigree of the country of origin and of the Italian national dog breeding body, the only body authorized by law in Italy to issue legitimate pedigrees through the Director General Responsible for the Central Office of the ENCI Herd Book; only the ENCI pedigree in Italy can certify the dog as purebred; no other body or association other than ENCI can issue pedigrees with legal value in Italy.
The puppies sold by the criminal association, in fact, they mostly belonged to the non-existent so-called “exotic variant” consisting of grey, blue and lilac coat colours, advertised by the criminal group to attract unsuspecting customers, colors are absolutely not permitted by the breed standard set by the International Cynological Federation and for which it would have been impossible to obtain any legitimate pedigree within the community.
The dogs of theCarlotta's puppies" declared as farmed products, they were instead found in areas of Eastern Europe without any guarantee of origin and genetic traceability and, once accompanied by imaginative and untrue documents, self-produced by traffickers in Slovakia and Campania, they were illicitly introduced into Italy with mark-ups very high for the association, compared to the original purchase price, determining highlighted by the investigating judge in the ordinance “the continued endangerment, if not the actual offense actually inflicted, on the exemplary French bulldog, literally vilified in his animal dignity, made the subject of risky mutations of the type in the shadow of a sort of perverse “eugenic” research of greater fascination for the market…”.
The investigating judge still highlights in the ordinance the trade of: "... Very small puppies, taken prematurely from the mares,” the existence of “ Slovakian veterinarian who illicitly delivered blank passports and irregular microchips without the actual indication of the State of origin, the compilation of passports, bearing false dates and fictitious names,… indication of rabies vaccinations taken the day before departure” resulting in the possible and dangerous intra-community importation of dogs without the mandatory anti-rabies coverage.
The puppies were transported in such a way as to circumvent the TRACES system e without the necessary documentation required by the European legislation on the "commercial movement of dogs and cats between countries" as these are sales of dogs for the sole purpose of profit.
To make these puppies appear purebred and to entice buyers to purchase them in Campania, an illegal association was created by the criminal group which wanted to be parallel to the ENCI, producing for this purpose a misleading sheet of paper called by the criminal association “pedigree ICBD – Italian Club of Purebred Dogs” devoid of any legal value, advertising itself as part of the "Kennel Club WDF", a purely imaginary association attributable to a Neapolitan family that issued misleading self-produced certificates, which they promised buyers of puppies the false guarantee of recognition of the breed of the dogs purchased, as well as the possibility of participating in world-class events, fueling the illegal market of puppies that could never have been considered "breed" dogs “ blatantly deceiving, but without any delay, an infinite number of customers, the final links in a long chain that turns the animal into a commodity… not only, again, aiming to present itself as an alternative to the official channels of dog breeding… confusing the market for years” the investigating judge further underlines in the order.
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