FILE – In this Sept. 26, 2008 file photo, dogs are escorted by police after a police raid on the family home in the German village of Ruhr, western Germany.
Police raided the home of the owners of the dogs and seized some 4,000 dogs and cats and confiscated more than 1.4 tons of illegal drugs, mostly from the pet stores of Germany and other countries, in a raid that has stoked outrage across the country.
(AP Photo/Reuters, Sebastian Rieckert)A German court on Wednesday handed down a verdict in a case where police were accused of taking part in the illegal dog trade.
Police raided the family homes of the owner and two children, who were accused by the owners’ lawyer of illegally importing and selling dogs from the United States and Europe.
In a ruling that came after the trial, the court said the two children had sold their dogs to foreigners for between €2,000 and €4,000 ($3,300 and $4,600).
“The two children are responsible for the dogs’ export and import, and the fact that they took part in it,” the court in the western state of Thuringia said in a statement.
Police said the raids on the two homes were part of an investigation into dog smuggling.
The dogs were confiscated and sent to the police station in Rhineland-Palatinate.
In December 2016, the owners were given a six-month suspended sentence.
They had appealed against the verdict.
The dogs, which belonged to the children, are believed to have been bought illegally in Germany and sold in countries such as the United Kingdom and Spain.
