34 J Yeates and D Bowles dealers who evade the rules This responsibility should sit with the statutory border control agency Laws should prevent the sale or transportation of puppies until they are old enough and identifiable A minimum age of at least 15 weeks may reduce international travel of earlyweaned or unvaccinated puppies, if enforcement agencies are trained to accurately estimate puppies’ ages (which can be difficult between the ages of and 24 weeks, until teeth are erupting) or transporters required to prove puppies’ ages when contested Recent legislation changes which require all puppies to be identifiable through a microchip registered to the owner should provide a link back to the breeder and any middle men It should also give clearer information on the number of puppies sold every year in Britain As there may remain some dogs unchipped (for example, around 15–25 % of dogs in England and 22 % in Wales: BVA 2015; Government of Wales 2015), this will need to be adequately enforced Conclusion Harm is evident at each stage of the breeding and trade in animals—from the choice of mates, through the way in which mates and the young offspring are cared for, to their transportation and sale practices These can coincide with animal owners suffering considerable financial and emotional harm—which is likely to further disadvantage and possibly victimise the animal The harms identified are widespread in the puppy breeding industry—from individual breeders and traders who operate on a large scale, to low-level smaller ‘hobby’ breeders who may individually have low impact, but combined, may add up to a considerable number of parents, progeny and owners affected This scale is driven by the popularity of dogs, more specifically purebred puppies of certain breeds At a societal level, this popularity is unlikely to change, despite the best efforts of welfare charities, and so the demand is likely to continue Consumers’ motivation for puppies and their impulse buying behaviour account for a large amount of the demand for puppies that enables the harmful breeding trade For a minority of breeders and consumers, the motivation for specific breeds with inherited disorders is show success This motivation can be difficult to distinguish from a motivation to develop the breed, which seems less selfish Certainly, the motivation to perpetuate a breed unchanged is not worth any welfare harms of inbreeding or selection for exaggerated features The motivation behind irresponsible and illegal breeding is, to a large extent, financial These monetary opportunities can incentivise breeders and dealers risking the possible legal sanctions, especially when enforcement