Animal welfare group’s fears over ‘puppy farm’ licences

SOME councillors in Wales have been too willing to grant inappropriate licences to puppy farms out of sympathy for farmers trying to make a living, according to an animal welfare group.

Cariad – the campaign to end puppy farming – has called on the Welsh Government to intervene and ensure dogs are not suffering.

Sue Davey, of Cariad, said: “We are very concerned that in some cases concern for farmers’ ability to earn a livelihood is resulting in licences to run puppy farms being granted where there are reasonable grounds for refusal.”

Ms Davey cited in particular the case of Richard Jones, a farmer from Creuddyn Bridge, near Lampeter, who earlier this year was given a nine-week jail term, suspended for 18 months, at Aberystwyth Justice Centre after being found guilty of two counts of illegal dog breeding and 21 counts of causing unnecessary suffering to dogs in a prosecution brought by Ceredigion County Council.

Council officers who visited said some of the dogs in his care were found “in complete darkness” with “advanced chronic skin conditions”, with one puppy so thin that it was “close to death”.

Ms Davey said that while the council had eventually taken action against Jones, councillors had ignored the results of an inspection carried out in May 2013 when the inspector recommended that his licence should not be renewed.

The licence was renewed despite the recommendation.

The Kennel Club, which runs the only scheme in the UK that monitors breeders in order to protect the welfare of puppies and breeding bitches, has a statement on its website which says: “A puppy farmer is defined as a high volume breeder who breeds puppies with little or no regard for the health and welfare of the puppies or their parents.

“A puppy farmer’s main intent is profit.

“As a result they typically separate puppies from their mothers too early – eight weeks is generally recommended – ignore guidelines about the maximum frequency of litters – the Kennel Club will not normally register more than four litters from any one bitch because of concerns that the current legal limit of six litters per bitch can be potentially detrimental to a dog’s welfare – provide inadequate socialisation of puppies, sell puppies through third parties ie away from the environment in which they are raised, keep puppies in poor husbandry conditions and fail to follow breed specific health schemes or to apply basic, routine health measures such as immunisation and worming.

“As a result, the puppies bred by puppy farmers are more likely to suffer from common, preventable, infectious diseases, painful or chronic inherited conditions, behavioural issues and shorter life spans.”

Gareth Davies, who has chaired Ceredigion council’s licensing committee since May, said: “I don’t agree that we’re biased in any way.

“Ceredigion is the first council to have brought a prosecution under the recent legislation affecting dog breeding.

“We accept there are lessons to be learnt and are aware of the concerns.

“I’ve had in excess of 40 emails on the topic in the last week.”