Love Handbags for life...

You could say that this is a follow up article to Handbag Emergency? Don’t dial 999 just draw on your 111!, as it deals with a similar subject, namely the lengths people will go to, to recreate the “image” created by celebrities such as Paris Hilton. Unfortunately this time with a sinister result.

As the Sunday Times reported this weekend, as a result of the abolition of European Union border controls and a rising demand, “handbag-size” puppies are being cruelly smuggled from Eastern Europe into countries such as Germany, Austria, Holland and Sweden.

They say affected breeds are Chihuahuas, Yorkshire Terriers and Golden Retrievers(! – for the over-sized handbag???) which are bread in filthy inhumane conditions and merely treated as merchandise. They don’t receive vaccinations or any medical care and contract illnesses.

I mean fashion is great and fun and I am all for exploiting accessories and handbags to the full, but some things are more important than looking trendy with a cute puppy in your handbag! I know this has been repeated many times before, but a dog is not just for Christmas and not just a fashion accessory that looks good in your handbag and they should be treated as the living intelligent creatures they are!

Even if you are intending to look well after your little doggie you should not buy it from a dubious source, because you would be supporting the people that are exploiting these animals – and chances are even your new puppy might be sick and die.

Marie-Claire Macintosh from Four Paws UK says that the organization is investigating whether the puppies are even reaching the UK (I guess this thought is quite concerning considering the lengths the UK are going to trying to keep rabies off the British Islands??), but she says even without these Eastern European puppies, the UK already has its own flourishing trade among unscrupulous breeders. “We want people to adopt animals from proper shelters,” she says.

So if you want a little doggie for your handbag, I can understand, I find animals cute myself, but please think twice about where you get it from – remember the money you pay is not such a high amount considering this might be your new companion for the next 20 years!