A petition to ban the importation of young puppies is set to be debated in parliament after the number of signatures reached 100,000.
The petition - which currently has 108,000 signatures - was started by 27-year-old dog lover, Lucy Parkinson following the tragic death of Love Island stars Molly-Mae Hague and Tommy Fury's puppy, Mr Chai, who was imported from Russia earlier this year.
"Plenty of dogs from UK breeders and rescues need homes. Transporting young pups long distances is often stressful, before being sold for ridiculous prices to unsuspecting dog-lovers," the petition explained.
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"Government must adjust current laws, ban this unethical activity on welfare grounds and protect these poor animals ASAP.
"The recent tragic case of a puppy dying just 6 days after being delivered from Russia has exposed a completely legal but immoral route to market for pups bred hundreds of miles away and sold away from their mums.
"Who's actually inspecting these breeders & transportation conditions? Selling imported pups like this is cruel and appears to contradict the Government's own advice to always physically 'see puppies interacting with their mothers in their place of birth' as with Lucy's Law in England."
The campaign is being supported by celebrity vet Marc Abrahams who said he was "thrilled" it would be debated in parliament.
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"Let's hope the petition and debate is the end for this type of legal cruelty... and the health and welfare of puppies, and their mums and dads, is fully protected," he told The Mirror, who are backing the campaign.
It's important to note that both Molly and Tommy explained the cause of Chai's death was due to a health condition he had had from birth.
"Effectively Chai's skull wasn't formed properly, it wasn't fully developed, part of the brain was exposed. In a tiny dog, even playing with him probably wasn't helpful," said Molly at the time.
"The main thing was that Chai didn't have a single white blood cell left in his body."
The current law states that puppies must be at least 15 weeks old before they can be imported into the UK. Puppies travelling before this age can be susceptible to psychological distress and illness as a result of being taken from their mums so young.
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One potential option would be to increase the age to six months, which would make it easier for officials to identify underage pups.
It's believed it would also massively reduce demand, as breeders are less likely to want to keep puppies for that amount of time.
Here's to hoping the debate leads to some serious changes against this cruel trade. More to follow...
Featured Image Credit: UnsplashTopics: Life News, News, Dogs, Puppies