Claim that puppy farms exist in Triangle

The founder of a local dog rescue charity has told The Coleraine Times this week that she knows of a number of puppy farms that exist in the Coleraine area.

Maggie Dimsdale Bobby was speaking after last week’s shock documentary by the BBC, which exposed the cruel trade of puppy farming in Northern Ireland.

Maggie, who is passionate about animals, said that she knows of ‘a number’ of puppy farms in the Coleraine area.

“These people do not care about the welfare of the dogs.

“They are interested in money, pure and simple,” she said.

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Maggie who has rehomed hundreds of unwanted dogs in the Coleraine area in recent years, says it’s time to take action on those operating the cruel puppy farms.

“I know in situations like this your heart rules your head, and members of the public end up bringing one of these dogs home - but at the end of the day you are only funding these people.

“These dogs are often not vaccinated and carry infections and diseases.”

She said that after the BBC One documentary was aired last week, she received messages via the charity’s facebook page from concerned dog owners.

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This led the local charity to issue this statement: “We are totally disgusted that Councils seem to think that breeding establishments like the one shown in the doucmentary are acceptable - they are not.”

The statement referred to the Welfare Act, which was put in place to protect animals.

“Let us remind them and indeed every other council in Northern Ireland of a very important part of the legislation the welfare needs of a dog:

“Somewhere suitable to live - do councils deem cold, dark kennels, with automatic feeders and over 500 dogs barking at once as suitable; The ability to express normal behaviour - There is absolutely nothing normal about those poor dogs captured on video cowering and shaking in fear, nothing normal about dogs being bred to death, nothing normal about those dogs having to endure the deafening sounds of over 500 dogs barking, nothing normal about those dogs having no human contact or being kept in kennels 24/7, nothing normal about stating dogs don’t need exercise.”

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The statement added: “There is no escape for those poor dogs that featured in the programme. Disease is rife in these farms, dogs and dying and in agony - I just hope that by highlighting this issue we can stop these cruel individuals from making money out of poor helpless dogs.

We contacted Causeway Coast and Glens Council, in a statement they said: “Council is currently unaware of any unregistered premises in the Coleraine area, but are happy to investigate any allegations of unregistered puppy farms from the public and would welcome any information that can be provided. “Council has and will continue to inspect Licensed breeders to ensure compliance with the legislation.”