2026-03-192025/26:MJU15 · p.4MJUEnvironment & agriculture
Dog breeding and dog smuggling
Dog breeding and dog smuggling
What's at stake: Dog smuggling and unsound breeding harm animal health and welfare and, according to the reservation, give criminal gangs substantial income, while the question concerns how quickly stricter controls, registration and supervision should be introduced beyond the work already under way nationally and within the EU.
Case texts and AI reasoning are AI-translated from the Swedish originals; the Swedish text is authoritative.
What the vote decides
The question is whether the Riksdag should now call for further measures against harmful dog breeding and organised dog smuggling - such as a review of breeding practices and expanded agency cooperation against smuggling - or whether this should wait for existing regulation and ongoing EU negotiations and inquiries.
Yes Yes — the committee proposal
The committee points to existing animal welfare legislation and the Swedish Board of Agriculture's regulations against harmful dog breeding, to the work of the Swedish Kennel Club against exaggerated conformation traits, and to the EU regulation on welfare and traceability for dogs and cats currently being negotiated. On smuggling, the committee welcomes the government's appointed investigator and the forthcoming EU legislation. Against this background, and in order not to pre-empt this ongoing work, the committee proposes that the motions be rejected.
No No — the reservations
Reservation 4 (S)
The reservation (S) considers that dog smuggling and illegal breeding have given criminal gangs substantial income and wants the government to review Swedish dog breeding to ensure it complies with animal welfare legislation, with strengthened supervision and controls to protect the health and breeding traits of dams. Against dog smuggling, the reservation wants the proposals from the Swedish Economic Crime Authority, the Tax Agency and Customs on expanded agency cooperation, tightened controls and expanded dog registration to be implemented, partly to reduce the risk of diseases such as rabies spreading.
Summarised from the committee report. Party labels in the summary come from the report, not from the vote.
What do the votes mean here?
Yes The committee proposal: rejecting the motions (keeping things as they are).
No Backing the counter-proposal: reservation 4 by S.
Abstain The party marks a position of its own that is not one of the two final alternatives.
The decision would have gone the other way
Explicit commitments that contradicted the vote: LLiberalerna, MPMiljöpartiet, SDSverigedemokraterna
Ja 200–94Nej 114–180
Counterfactual: the parties above are moved to the position their own documents explicitly point at, carrying their whole contingent present. Every other party keeps its real figures, including dissenters and absentees.
How the AI parties would have voted
For each party: what its own plan – election manifesto and party programme – argues for in this case, next to how the party actually voted. The AI can only answer Yes or No; a party can also abstain.
| AI | Vote | Confidence | Evidence | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| V | No | Yes 17/0/0/5 | differs | confidence: medium | not addressed |
| S | No | No 0/93/0/13 | match | confidence: low | not addressed |
| MP | No | Yes 13/0/0/5 | differsagainst own programme | confidence: high | explicit |
| C | No | Yes 21/0/0/3 | differs | confidence: medium | not addressed |
| L | No | Yes 12/0/0/4 | differsagainst own programme | confidence: high | explicit |
| KD | No | Yes 14/0/0/5 | differs | confidence: medium | not addressed |
| M | No | Yes 60/0/0/8 | differs | confidence: medium | not addressed |
| SD | No | Yes 61/0/0/10 | differsagainst own programme | confidence: high | explicit |
Committee proposal
The Riksdag rejects the motion 2025/26:3733 by Åsa Westlund et al. (S) amendments 40-42.
Original (Swedish)
Riksdagen avslår motion 2025/26:3733 av Åsa Westlund m.fl. (S) yrkandena 40-42.
Riksdag decision: The county councils shall receive more tools to exercise supervision over dogs to prevent and stop dogs from causing harm. For example, it may be mentioned that the county councils gain access to homes and other spaces for supervision and that they to a greater extent are able to decide on immediate seizures. The Riksdag approved the government's proposal which also means that the Police Authority, in certain cases, may decide on euthanisation of animals that have been seized under the Animal Welfare Act. The new rules enter into force on 1 May 2026.
Counter-proposals
- The counter-proposal wants a review of dog breeding practices and strengthened supervision to ensure good animal welfare. (S) — Reservation 4
Plan vs actual vote
Every party, in chamber order: what its own plan pointed to, how it voted, and the reasoning behind both. Highlighted rows are where the two differ — but a vote that follows the plan is a result too, so the reasoning is there for every party.
The plan states that all animal husbandry shall be based on the understanding that animals are sentient creatures who should live good lives, which supports the demand for a review of dog breeding and strengthened supervision of bitches' health.
Plan documents: party programme · 2022 manifesto
Reasoning and quotes
The plan states that all animal husbandry shall be based on the understanding that animals are sentient creatures who should live good lives, which supports the demand for a review of dog breeding and strengthened supervision of bitches' health. It also wants effective monitoring of organised crime and increased resources to customs and police to get at criminal networks' income. Stricter controls and expanded registration against dog smuggling follow from this.
Original (Swedish)
Planen slår fast att all djurhållning ska utgå från att djur är kännande varelser som ska leva goda liv, vilket bär kravet på översyn av hundaveln och stärkt tillsyn av tikarnas hälsa. Den vill också ha en effektiv uppföljning av den organiserade brottsligheten och ökade resurser till tull och polis för att komma åt kriminella nätverks inkomster. Skärpta kontroller och utökad registrering mot hundsmuggling följer av det.
- animals as sentient creaturesdecisive»All djurhållning ska utgå från att djur är kännande« (party programme ↗)“All animal husbandry shall be based on the understanding that animals are sentient”
- monitoring of organised crime»Det behövs en effektiv uppföljning av den organiserade« (party programme ↗)“There is a need for effective monitoring of organised”
- resources for customs and police»Tullens och polisens resurser måste öka för att komma åt de pengar som driver narkotikahandeln.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Customs and police resources must increase to get at the money driving the drug trade.”
The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.
The plan wants to strike hard against organised crime's sources of income and take action against illegal imports across the border, which supports the counter-proposal's requirements for stricter controls, expanded registration and inter-agency cooperation against dog smuggling.
Plan documents: 2022 manifesto · party programme
Reasoning and quotes
The plan wants to strike hard against organised crime's sources of income and take action against illegal imports across the border, which supports the counter-proposal's requirements for stricter controls, expanded registration and inter-agency cooperation against dog smuggling. Animal welfare and breeding are not addressed at all in the documents, so the supervisory part rests on a general principle that society shall have control where the market fails.
Original (Swedish)
Planen vill slå hårt mot den organiserade brottslighetens inkomstkällor och ta krafttag mot olaglig införsel över gränsen, vilket bär motförslagets krav på skärpta kontroller, utökad registrering och myndighetssamverkan mot hundsmuggling. Djurskydd och avel behandlas dock inte alls i dokumenten, så tillsynsdelen vilar på en allmän princip om att samhället ska ha kontroll där marknaden brister.
- hit crime's incomedecisive»Slå hårt mot den organiserade brottslighetens finansiering och organisation.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Strike hard against the financing and organisation of organised crime.”
- strengthened border control against smuggling»Vi vill ta krafttag mot införsel av vapen och narkotika, bland annat genom stärkt gränskontroll.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We want to take action against imports of weapons and drugs, not least through stronger border control.”
- combat organised crime»Kraftfullt bekämpande av organiserad kriminell verksamhet.« (party programme ↗)“Vigorous combating of organised criminal activity.”
The plan requires that the animal protection law's requirements for natural behaviour and animal welfare are fully implemented and establishes that there are still major shortcomings that need to be addressed — explicitly also for companion animals.
Plan documents: party programme · 2022 manifesto
Reasoning and quotes
The plan requires that the animal protection law's requirements for natural behaviour and animal welfare are fully implemented and establishes that there are still major shortcomings that need to be addressed — explicitly also for companion animals. Review of dog breeding and strengthened supervision are direct expressions of that. Against smuggling, the plan's requirement for strengthened inter-agency cooperation against organized crime's income moreover speaks.
Original (Swedish)
Planen kräver att djurskyddslagens krav på naturligt beteende och djurvälfärd genomförs fullt ut och slår fast att det fortfarande finns stora brister som behöver åtgärdas — uttryckligen även för sällskapsdjur. Översyn av hundaveln och stärkt tillsyn är direkta uttryck för det. Mot smugglingen talar dessutom planens krav på stärkt myndighetssamverkan mot organiserad brottslighets intäkter.
- the animal protection law fullydecisive»Miljöpartiet vill att den svenska djurskyddslagens krav på rätt till naturligt beteende och« (party programme ↗)“The Greens want the Swedish animal protection law's requirements for the right to natural behaviour and”
- also applies to companion animals»sällskapsdjur och djur som hålls för andra ändamål.« (party programme ↗)“companion animals and animals kept for other purposes.”
- shortcomings in animal keeping»det inom vissa områden fortfarande stora brister som behöver åtgärdas« (party programme ↗)“there are still major shortcomings in certain areas that need to be addressed”
- inter-agency cooperation against crime proceeds»stoppa finansieringen av de kriminella gängen genom att stärka myndighetssamverkan« (2022 manifesto ↗)“stop the financing of criminal gangs by strengthening inter-agency cooperation”
The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.
The plan aims to cut off criminal economy's revenues and solve more crimes that affect people in their daily lives, and the party programme imposes on people a special responsibility for other living creatures.
Plan documents: 2022 manifesto · party programme
Reasoning and quotes
The plan aims to cut off criminal economy's revenues and solve more crimes that affect people in their daily lives, and the party programme imposes on people a special responsibility for other living creatures. Dog smuggling and illegal breeding are both a revenue source for criminal networks and an animal welfare problem. Strengthened oversight, inter-agency cooperation and registration therefore follow from the plan.
Original (Swedish)
Planen vill strypa den kriminella ekonomins inkomster och klara upp fler brott som drabbar människor i vardagen, och partiprogrammet ålägger människan ett särskilt ansvar för andra levande varelser. Hundsmuggling och olaglig avel är både en inkomstkälla för kriminella nätverk och ett djurskyddsproblem. Stärkt tillsyn, myndighetssamverkan och registrering följer därför av planen.
- cut off criminal revenuesdecisive»Dessutom bör en utredning om gängens inkomster och hur dessa kan strypas genomföras.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Moreover, an investigation into gang revenues and how these can be cut off should be conducted.”
- responsibility for animals»Människan har ett särskilt ansvar att agera så att andra levande varelser också kan fortleva.« (party programme ↗)“Mankind has a special responsibility to act so that other living creatures can also continue to exist.”
- respect for animals»Ett tydligt ansvarstagande och respekt för djur och natur« (party programme ↗)“Clear responsibility-taking and respect for animals and nature”
- more solved crimes»Tryggheten ska förbättras i hela landet och fler brott som drabbar folk i deras vardag ska klaras upp.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Security shall be improved throughout the country and more crimes affecting people in their everyday lives shall be solved.”
The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.
The plan requires that all animal husbandry guarantees animals a dignified life and that oversight of that national laws and EU rules are complied with is strengthened.
Plan documents: party programme · 2022 manifesto
Reasoning and quotes
The plan requires that all animal husbandry guarantees animals a dignified life and that oversight of that national laws and EU rules are complied with is strengthened. It also wants to deepen international cooperation against smuggling. A review of dog breeding, strengthened oversight and strengthened controls against dog smuggling are precisely these commitments.
Original (Swedish)
Planen kräver att all djurhållning garanterar djuren ett värdigt liv och att kontrollen av att nationella lagar och EU-regler efterlevs skärps. Den vill också fördjupa det internationella samarbetet mot smuggling. En översyn av hundaveln, stärkt tillsyn och skärpta kontroller mot hundsmuggling är precis dessa åtaganden.
- strengthened animal welfare oversightdecisive»Kontrollen av att nationella lagar och EU-regler efterlevs måste skärpas.« (party programme ↗)“Oversight that national laws and EU rules are complied with must be strengthened.”
- dignified animal husbandry»All djurhållning måste garantera djuren ett värdigt liv och en anständig död.« (party programme ↗)“All animal husbandry must guarantee animals a dignified life and a decent death.”
- cooperation against smuggling»Det internationella samarbetet mot smuggling och olovlig jakt« (party programme ↗)“International cooperation against smuggling and unlawful hunting”
- combat criminal networks»Gränsöverskridande brottslighet måste mötas med en gränsöverskridande polis.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Cross-border criminality must be met with a cross-border police.”
The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.
The plan requires that animal health is promoted and that consideration is given to their physiological and behavioural needs, which supports the requirement for review of dog breeding and strengthened oversight to protect bitches' health.
Plan documents: party programme
Reasoning and quotes
The plan requires that animal health is promoted and that consideration is given to their physiological and behavioural needs, which supports the requirement for review of dog breeding and strengthened oversight to protect bitches' health. Human responsibility to value other living creatures is an explicit stewardship task in the plan. Against smuggling, the plan speaks of close EU cooperation against cross-border crime and smuggling and that all crimes should be effectively prosecuted.
Original (Swedish)
Planen kräver att djurens hälsa främjas och att hänsyn tas till deras fysiologiska och beteendemässiga behov, vilket bär kravet på översyn av hundaveln och stärkt tillsyn för att skydda tikarnas hälsa. Människans ansvar att värna andra levande varelser är en uttalad förvaltarskapsuppgift i planen. Mot smugglingen talar planens krav på nära EU-samarbete mot gränsöverskridande brottslighet och smuggling samt att alla brott effektivt ska beivras.
- animal health and needsdecisive»hälsa främjas och hänsyn tas till djurens fysiologiska och beteendemässiga behov« (party programme ↗)“health is promoted and consideration is given to animals' physiological and behavioural needs”
- stewardship of animals»Människan har ett ansvar att värna andra levande varelser.« (party programme ↗)“Humans have a responsibility to value other living creatures.”
- EU cooperation against smuggling»Det krävs ett nära samarbete på EU-nivå för att motverka allvarlig gränsöverskridande brottslighet och smuggling.« (party programme ↗)“Close cooperation at EU level is required to counter serious cross-border crime and smuggling.”
- all crimes must be prosecuted»Alla brott ska effektivt och utan undantag beivras« (party programme ↗)“All crimes shall be effectively and without exception prosecuted”
The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.
The plan wants to strengthen customs with resources and powerful authorities against smuggling and cut off criminals' income.
Plan documents: 2022 manifesto
Reasoning and quotes
The plan wants to strengthen customs with resources and powerful authorities against smuggling and cut off criminals' income. Dog smuggling and illegal breeding are precisely such an income source for criminal networks, and tightened controls and expanded agency cooperation follow the plan's line. The plan does not mention dog breeding, so the support is derived from the crime-fighting commitment.
Original (Swedish)
Planen vill stärka tullen med resurser och kraftfulla befogenheter mot smuggling och strypa de kriminellas inkomster. Hundsmuggling och olaglig avel är just en sådan inkomstkälla för kriminella nätverk, och skärpta kontroller och utökad myndighetssamverkan följer planens linje. Planen nämner inte hundavel, så stödet är härlett ur brottsbekämpningsåtagandet.
- stronger customs against smugglingdecisive»Stärka tullen med mer resurser och kraftfulla befogenheter för att stoppa stöldligor och vapensmugglare« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Strengthen customs with more resources and powerful authorities to stop theft gangs and arms smugglers”
- cut off criminals' income»Ta gängens pengar och införa en omvänd bevisbörda för att kunna beslagta gängmedlemmarnas lyxprylar« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Take gangs' money and introduce a reverse burden of proof to be able to seize gang members' luxury goods”
- legislation adapted for criminal networks»Gängen är Sveriges inhemska terrorister – och lagstiftningen måste anpassas därefter så att fler ställs till svars och försvinner från gatan.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Gangs are Sweden's domestic terrorists – and legislation must be adapted accordingly so that more are held accountable and disappear from the streets.”
The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.
The counter-proposal wants to review dog breeding, strengthen supervision and expand registration and checks against dog smuggling.
Plan documents: 2022 manifesto
Reasoning and quotes
The counter-proposal wants to review dog breeding, strengthen supervision and expand registration and checks against dog smuggling. The election manifesto explicitly raises the smuggling of puppies as a growing problem and promises that customs and veterinarians shall be given more tools and that sellers shall be identified to facilitate prosecution. The requirement is therefore the plan's own stance.
Original (Swedish)
Motförslaget vill se över hundaveln, stärka tillsynen och utöka registrering och kontroller mot hundsmuggling. Valmanifestet lyfter uttryckligen smugglingen av hundvalpar som ett växande problem och lovar att tull och veterinärer ska ges fler verktyg samt att säljare ska identifieras för att underlätta lagföring. Kravet är därmed planens egen ståndpunkt.
- more tools against puppy smugglingdecisive»Tull och veterinärer ska ges fler verktyg för att komma tillrätta med problemet med valpsmuggling.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Customs and veterinarians shall be given more tools to address the problem of puppy smuggling.”
- dog smuggling a growing problem»Ett växande problem är smugglingen av hundvalpar, som ofta kommer från så kallade valpfabriker i andra europeiska länder, och som under vidriga förhållanden transporteras till Sverige för att säljas till intet ont anande köpare.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“A growing problem is the smuggling of puppies, which often come from so-called puppy mills in other European countries, and which under appalling conditions are transported to Sweden to be sold to unsuspecting buyers.”
- strengthened animal protection»Stärka djurs rättsliga skydd och status« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Strengthen animals' legal protection and status”
- stricter oversight against animal crimes»Sverigedemokraterna vill också skapa en särskild djurskyddspolis med specialkompetens i hanterandet av brott mot djur.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sweden Democrats also want to create a special animal welfare police with specialist expertise in handling crimes against animals.”
The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.
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Sources and documents
- The committee report on riksdagen.se (2025/26:MJU15)
- Committee report full text (HD01MJU15)
- Per-MP voting data (API)
- Case status (API)
Documents under consideration
- Motion 2025/26:2706 — Skärpta regler för kamphundsraser av Mikael Oscarsson (KD)
- Motion 2025/26:3733 — Utgiftsområde 23 Areella näringar, landsbygd och livsmedel av Åsa Westlund m.fl. (S)
- Motion 2025/26:3858 — med anledning av prop. 2025/26:57 Hund under kontroll av Rebecka Le Moine m.fl. (MP)
- Motion 2025/26:3859 — med anledning av prop. 2025/26:57 Hund under kontroll av Stina Larsson m.fl. (C)
- Proposition 2025/26:57 — Hund under kontroll
Source: The Swedish Parliament