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Puffin Halts Sales of Spy Dog Books After Printed Web Link Redirects to Porn Site

The publisher says a third party took over the lapsed domain, making removal a complex legal process.

Overview

  • Sales and distribution of affected Spy Dog, Spy Cat and Spy Pups editions are paused as Puffin pursues legal steps to take the site down.
  • Schools and local authorities across England have issued safeguarding alerts, told libraries to withdraw copies and urged parents to remove the books at home.
  • Waterstones and other retailers have taken the titles off shelves following publisher guidance.
  • The compromised URL appears in some printings that once directed readers to an author website, with reports that the current site has no age verification.
  • A Hampshire primary school warned parents about the risk but mistakenly included the live link in an email, prompting a follow‑up apology.