Simon Cowell has joined other celebs including Dame Olivia Newton-John and Ellie Goulding in supporting a Daily Mirtor campaign to end cruel puppy farm imports

The Mirror is backing calls to ban what is described as a “legal but immoral” route to market for young puppies bred up to thousands of miles away in horrific conditions, removed from their mums too early and then sold to unsuspecting dog lovers in the UK.

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Currently, the animals need to be at least 15 weeks old before they are allowed into the UK.

The newspaper are calling for this age to be raised to at least six months – which campaigners believe will make border checks easier to enforce as the puppies’ permanent teeth will have come through by then.

By raising the import age of the puppies by just 11 weeks to 26 weeks, it would therefore be easier to identify those that are too young, especially as often paperwork is easily faked from countries such as Russia, Hungary, and Romania.

Campaigners also believe the move would effectively put a huge dent in the market as most buyers don’t want puppies advertised as six-months or older, with the majority of breeders less keen to keep pups on their establishments for that long either.

Simon Cowell said: “I totally support the Mirror’s campaign. Dogs are our best friends. It breaks my heart to think of puppies being treated badly and in appalling conditions – whilst people make money from them. We must do anything we can to stop this happening.” 

And Dame Olivia Newton-John said: “I am appalled to learn about the horrible conditions and treatment of puppies being imported into the UK from breeders with no compassion or love for these dogs – only greed.

Full story at The Daily Mirror