Executives from Company of Animals (COA) have accompanied officers from the City of London Police on a series of raids that resulted in arrests and the seizure of substantial volumes of counterfeit pet accessories.
In July, COA’s chief operating officer Jaeden Iddon and group supply chain manager Blair Bolton accompanied officers during coordinated raids across multiple commercial and residential premises. Arrests were made and thousands of counterfeit Halti products were seized.
The issue was first uncovered in late 2023, when COA identified that tens of thousands of counterfeit Halti leads, headcollars, and harnesses designed to mimic genuine packaging and branding were being sold on Amazon UK by unauthorised third-party sellers. An internal investigation traced the counterfeits back through the supply chain, with evidence pointing to manufacturing operations in China, the company alleges.
COA catalogued key differences between genuine and counterfeit units, tracked inventory through Amazon’s distribution network, and identified multiple UK-based sellers. COA compiled a dossier of evidence, which was eventually adopted by the City of London Police in early 2024, leading to the recent raids. In addition to Halti products, counterfeit items from other leading pet brands were also discovered, and COA has since contacted these companies to support industry-wide collaboration and awareness.
Up to 58,000 counterfeit units were believed to have entered the UK market through this route, and COA says it will continue to work closely with City of London Police and the Crown Prosecution Service as the cases progress, and will maintain collaboration with other affected brands to advocate for stronger industry safeguards against counterfeit activity.
Chief operating officer Jaeden Iddon said: “Counterfeit products aren’t just a business problem, they put pets and owners at risk. Halti has earned global trust through its safety and quality standards, and these counterfeits undermined that.
“We are proud of our team’s persistence in pursuing this case and grateful to the City of London Police for their decisive action.”
The company has issued safety advice for dog owners, warning them to be on the lookout for substandard stitching or poor quality or damaged packaging, with labelling not in English or including obvious spelling errors.
The Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) advises consumers who suspect they have purchased a counterfeit dog product online, to report it to both the retailer and the genuine brand.
