The Puppy Import Trade

Starting in about mid-2003, U.S. puppy sellers, who found they could import puppies more cheaply than they could breed them, started importing puppies in large numbers, particularly in expensive breeds such as Bulldogs and French Bulldogs. 

California Puppy Importer, Trisha Slack

Since 2003, French Bulldog breeders and rescue representatives have been hearing of U.S. puppy mills importing unhealthy, poor quality French Bulldog and English Bulldog puppies into the United States from foreign puppy mills, located primarily in Russia, Poland, the Ukraine, other surrounding eastern European countries, Brazil, and Argentina.

The complaints included stories of puppies that were determined to be ill at the time of purchase, and several of the puppies that died shortly after they were brought home by their new owners.  Some of these puppies had crippling genetic defects.  Although all of them were sold as purebred, some of them scarcely resemble the dog described in the breed standard. The photos in this story are of just some of the puppies offered for sale by or purchased from a couple in southern California who are discussed in this article.

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