Animal welfare workers had to receive counselling because they were so distressed by the terrible condition of dogs were at an illegal puppy farm, an Oireachtas committee has heard. Dogs Trust Ireland’s executive director, Becky Bristow, said a better dog registration system is needed to stop unscrupulous dog sellers making a profit from animal cruelty. “When [breeders] can hide behind this lack of traceability, they can breed dogs in utterly deplorable conditions,” Ms Bristow told the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food, and the Marine on Tuesday. Ms Bristow said this was mainly due to more neutering and re-homing. However, Ms Bristow warned that Dogs Trust research has uncovered that putting down dogs has now fallen to private vets, and the issue is hard to quantify.

Source: The Irish Times June 01, 2021 19:27 UTC