Puppy farming complaints, stop this trade

Pic courtesy of Be Puppy Farm Aware

Puppy Farming is something most doggy people are aware of,  organisations like Puppy Love and Be Puppy Farm Aware do an amazing job of naming, shaming, protesting, complaining and spreading information.  It’s been going on for at least 20 years and it grows every year.  Our latest investigations via Freedom of Information Act enquiries do confirm long standing investigative filming, photos and accusations that Wales, particularly South Wales has the most farms.

However other things have come to light regarding paperwork, licensing and checking that alarmingly show that there are no real checks done, no follow up and the lastest case to get some publicity shows exactly what we are dealing with.

For some months, a campaign to petition and complain against a retrospective planning application by one such farmer was circulated via Twitter, Facebook and various emails and sites.  This is an important case as it highlights exactly what the problem is.  This farmer has been breeding for many years and the planning application is to have 196 dog breeding shed.  Yes, 196 dogs and he’s had that many already for years and this is just ONE farm.

This is being heard by Carmarthenshire County Council on 18th August and is actually supported by County Councillor L Davies Evans.

Her reasons?  Here they are:

County Councillor L Davies Evans has stated she supports the application for the following reasons:-

● Dogs have been bred at the site since the 1990’s and there are no animal welfare issues or complaints from surrounding properties.

● The proposal is important for farm diversification.

● The proposal meets the requirements of Policy E8 of the Carmarthenshire Unitary Development Plan.

So really good reasons then????   Also a really ironic and hypocritical  comment in the week the Welsh Assembly First Minister Carwyn Jones announced  “We will be bringing forward new legislation to ensure that irresponsible breeding in so called ‘puppy farms’ is brought to an end.”

The worst thing about this story is that I saw this mentioned on dozens of sites in the run up to this being heard in the Planning Committee.  Many outraged comments and promises to complain and to spread the word were seen.  Yet there are only a little over 700 complaints.  Some are irrelevant to planning, even if some of those are right morally.  I confess to disappointment at the numbers considering how many said they hated puppy farming and would complain.  In fact two people I spoke to several times and who were constantly talking about it and getting people to write, told me tonight that they hadn’t complained as were too busy.  I’ll pass that on to the terrified and abused dogs, I’m sure they’ll understand.  Well done to all who did take a few minutes to write a complaint.

This week I helped with 6 dogs saved from a puppy farmer. Terrified and filthy, they will now get the lives they deserve. As ever, I say the same thing, STOP BUYING THEM.

If you want to help us campaign against this and have bought from a puppy farmer or know where there is an outlet in your town, please read this

Some advice about complaining about puppy farmers and bad breeders here