Two arrests over sale of unsafe fake dog products

Dog owners are being urged to take caution when buying supplements, toys and leads, after UK police seized over 20,000 counterfeit products which could have posed a safety risk to both pets and other people.

Detectives from the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) at City of London Police executed search warrants at four residential addresses in Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Nottinghamshire on 16 July. Three storage units in Hertfordshire and a storage premises in Nottinghamshire were searched later that day.

Around 20,000 dog toys, 3,000 leads and a large quantity of supplement pills, which are all believed to be counterfeit, were seized. They include KONG-type treat toys and tennis balls, Halti-type headcollars, harnesses and leads, and YuMOVE-type supplement pills. A pill press was also seized from one of the storage units in Hertfordshire.

Two men, aged 30 and 33, were arrested in Hertfordshire on suspicion of fraud, trademark and money laundering offences. They are suspected to have sold the counterfeit Halti-type headcollars, harnesses and leads via third-party seller accounts on Amazon and then laundered the profits.

Detectives are pursuing a line of enquiry that the supplements and toys seized were being sold online. At this time, there is no information to suggest that the supplements were being sold on Amazon. The online retailer has already issued proactive notices and refunds to its customers who may have purchased the counterfeit leads.

According to PIPCU, Amazon’s Counterfeit Crimes Unit (CCU) and the Company of Animals that makes Halti-branded items first identified that fake headcollars, harnesses and leads were being sold by four third-party seller accounts.

Amazon removed the seller accounts, informed customers who had bought the leads that they were counterfeit, and issued them with refunds in 2024.

"These products aren’t manufactured to industry standards, so there’s a real risk that fake supplements are ineffective or contain harmful ingredients, while counterfeit toys can break and pose a choking hazard," commented PIPCU Detective Chief Inspector Emma Warbey.

"Fake leads lack the strength of genuine products, meaning their use can lead to escapes or injuries."