Pet Smuggling

The Dali pet market operates from Monday to Friday providing both wholesale and retail sales of animals, pet accessories, pharmaceuticals and veterinary services. It is also a national collection point for puppies bred in inhumane puppy mills all over China and then shipped onwards to pet shops across Southern China, including Hong Kong.

Dali adds an extra layer of cruelty to the puppies which pass through it. There is a complete absence of disease prevention and control and, with no vaccinations, epidemics of distemper, parvovirus, kennel cough, para-influenza and cat rhinotracheitis are frequent, resulting in the death of large numbers of animals.

Healthy dogs are mixed with sick animals and some dealers administer veterinary drugs and medications themselves, even though they are unqualified to do so. Dogs that die are simply discarded in bins.

Dogs can be sold to pet shops or directly to the public. Once an animal is purchased, falsified health records are provided before departure and some shops will offer to provide a veterinary check to “guarantee” your puppy’s health.

For buyers in Hong Kong, the dogs are smuggled in. Puppies are packed in boxes, hidden in secret compartments in vehicles or transported, mislabelled as other goods. Puppies may be drugged to keep them quiet so that their barking does not alert customs officials.

Smuggling dogs into the city avoids the mandatory four-month rabies quarantine period at a government facility and greatly increases the risk of a rabies outbreak in Hong Kong.