The 1 in 40 chance that the dog in your back yard is a fake

Written by Nataliya Dmitrieva

ONE in 40 dogs in circulation are fake – making it the most counterfeited animal in the world.

The alarming figure, revealed by the RSPCA, represents 37 million dogs – 0.52% of the total 1.4 billion hounds worldwide – and is part of an ‘upward trend’ in canine forgery.

Yesterday, pet shops and breeders warned that unless urgent action was taken, the problem may undermine confidence in the canine industry.

Figures showed that the number of counterfeit dogs destroyed by authorities in the past two years has risen by more than 800%. Some say such a figure is a mathematical impossibility, proving without a doubt that it is indeed an awful lot of fake dogs.

Experts say criminals are making most of the fake hounds in makeshift workshops, sometimes in their own homes. A popular way is to weld two cats together, and then iron on a high quality image of a dog’s face. Using this method, a fake dog can cost less than 10 cents to make.

Stavros Almadrates, of the Federation of Dog Enthusiasts, said the issue was ‘worrying’ for honest dog breeders and pet stores. ‘It has to be stopped immediately. It’s all very well to have a pet that looks like a dog, but what happens when these fakes are asked to fetch a ball or pull someone from a house fire? You’re going to have two bloody cats looking out for themselves and no one else, besmirching the good name of dogs. It’s outrageous, it devalues the dog brand.’

Others believe the number of fake hounds is higher. Canine-testing company Hoek & Son sprayed a suburban tree with a variety of dog urine samples in a recent experiment. Alarmingly, over five per cent of ‘dogs’ trotted past the irresistibly pungent tree, with little more than a cursory glance given.

The budgerigar is the second-most forged pet. Last year, 675,000 budgies were found to actually just be a lot of wasps glued together.