Article posted on Ananova web site:

America imports stray dogs

US animal shelters are importing stray dogs to supply the growing number of Americans wanting to adopt a pet.

Homeless dogs are being collected from as far afield as Taiwan to fill the shortage in American kennels.

Some shelters charge up to £150 per adoption for the imported animals.

One organisation in Puerto Rico has shipped more than 14,000 strays to the US in the last seven years.

Supporters said the mission was to save stray dogs wherever they are found.

Chantal Rosbles, founder and president of the Save a Sato Foundation in Puerto Rico, said: "We're sending more to the states because there's more demand for them. As soon as they get there they get adopted."

But Gary Patronek of the Tufts University Centre for animals said bringing dogs in from abroad runs a serious risk of importing a disease.

Story filed: 18:19 Friday 31st January 2003