However, the barking present should not cost a fortune, leading to a surge in illegal canine trafficking.

A quick search of online pet sites and in the ads sections of local newspapers unearths a deluge of offers for "cute Pinschers, wonderful Golden Retrievers, Pugs, cheap, private breeding".

"People want to have a pure-bred dog, but are loathe to spend a lot of money," Eva Persy of Vienna's animal welfare office said.

Authorities and activists were concerned about the sharp increase in puppy-boot sales and discount pets available via the internet, affecting not only Austria but also Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

Far from being reared by experienced breeders, those animals originated from dog-factories in Eastern Europe, Katja Wolf from Austria's cynology association warned.

"Dogs are bred under circumstances unimaginable to any serious breeder," Wolf said. "The dealers regard the animals just as merchandise. It is dirty and the animals contract all sorts of illnesses. If a bitch cannot have any more offspring or there are complications, they are simply killed."

Up to 30 puppies a time are ferried across the border in car boots by the dog-mafia to be sold in the parking lots of shopping centres, often for one-tenth of the price charged by registered breeders.

"You can get a Golden Retriever puppy for about 150 euros, normally a Golden would set you back 1,500 or 2,000," Wolf said.

Animal rights' activists estimate that around 30 carloads of illegal puppies without papers and the EU-wide mandatory vaccinations and microchips reach Austria every day. "And it will get a lot worse when the Schengen borders fall on December 21," they said.

Reacting to those alarming tendencies, Austria amended its animal protection legislation in mid December, banning the sale of animals in public places without prior authorization from January 2008, but one disillusioned government vet fears the law will not be enough.

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