An angry mother is backing the RSPCA campaign to stop puppy trafficking, after her pug was taken off her by trading standards.
Cheryl Ashton, of Icknield road, bought the puppy from a Lithuanian man in Enfield, believeing it was Kennel Club certified.
She took Charlie home and got him settled with her children, who loved him, before taking him to a vet at Pets At Home to get him registered.
The 31-year-old said: “The vet said he looked younger than 15 weeks and called Trading Standards, they came to my work the next day, I thought they were just coming to do some checks on him but they took him, it was horrible.”
The pug was taken into quarantine at Bayton Lodge, a private company in Warwickshire.
A council Trading Standards spokeswoman said: “We seized the puppy from Ms Ashton under the Rabies (Importation of Dogs, Cats and Other Mammals) Order 1974 after a local vet became suspicious that the dog’s passport was fake.
“Enquiries suggest the 7 week old puppy, which is far too young to be removed from its mother, is from Lithuania and has not had its rabies vaccination, and is therefore a risk to its owners and the general public.
“The puppy will be well cared for and provided the owner pays the costs of seizure, transport and quarantine, it will be returned to her once it has been fully vaccinated, completed its stay in quarantine and is free from rabies symptoms.”
The RSPCA campaign to stop illegal puppy trafficking in the UK, warns of the dangers of bringing dogs from other countries with false vaccination certificates.
Ms Ashton is backing the campaign, she said: “It is too easy for people to bring puppy’s to this country that have not had the proper checks, I was naive when buying Charlie and now I am paying the price, I want people to be aware of what is going on.
“I have set up a Facebook page ‘Save Charlie Boy’ to raise money to bring him home, so many people want to help.”