The demand for own dogs has decreased and it is leaving a mark on dog smuggling to Sweden, which has drastically decreased compared to the pandemic years.
It's a bit like it has ebbed out, says Martin Petersson, expert at the Customs Agency, to TT.
It started to increase towards the end of the first pandemic year, 2020. Then the number of detected dog smuggling cases increased during both 2021 and 2022, which became a peak year.
Everything is about demand, states Martin Petersson.
These years with restrictions made people want to have company at home, when people were sitting at home and working, and that effect has ceased.
188 dogs this year
So far this year, until the end of June, 188 smuggled dogs have been found by the customs. During the peak year 2022, a total of 552 were found.
We think from the kennel club's side that it's quite good that the demand has decreased, says Janina Pfalzer, press officer at the Swedish Kennel Club, to P4 Kristianstad.
Besides smuggling from other countries, high demand also leads to irresponsible breeding within the country, which she calls "kitchen breeding".
The dogs that are smuggled to Sweden are often small companion dogs bred in Central Europe.
When smugglers are exposed, it is often due to how they behave when meeting customs officials.
It's often very difficult for people to hide stress symptoms, i.e. getting stressed when talking to an authority figure. Increased pulse, sweating, and bad stories – it's often such things we go further on, says Martin Petersson.
Rejection more common
It is then up to veterinarians to decide what to do with the dogs that have been found. According to Martin Petersson, it has become more common for the dogs to be rejected from the country, instead of veterinarians making decisions about euthanasia.
It can lead to the smugglers making a new attempt later, he states.
The Öresund Bridge and Helsingborg are practical examples of this. We have several cases where they have been rejected at the Öresund Bridge and then come up in Helsingborg an hour later instead.
Stopping dog smuggling through customs controls is, according to the Customs Agency, not possible.
Sometime in the future, maybe we'll succeed, but the demand must decrease, says Martin Petersson.
