A Dog's Life with Anna Webb joined by Journalist Mark Edmonds on Puppy Farming

This week Anna gets a first hand account of Puppy Farms in Ireland from the investigative journalist, Mark Edmonds. Mark and Anna discuss the horrific conditions the dogs are kept in, what legislation can be brought in to tackle it, and his harrowing experience with what are essentially gangsters.

He discusses why he became interested in puppy farms as an abdication of statutory responsibility of animal welfare in Ireland. He recounts his own terrifying experience in County Cavan where he was threatened on a public road for approaching a major 'Dog Breeding Establishment'.

Fuelled by a demand for puppies heightened by the pandemic, thousands of puppies are brought into the UK illegally annually, with huge sums of money exchanging hands. A crime compared to drug sales, yet as a low risk high profit crime, its fuelled by an intricate network of gangs across the UK.

Propagated by the internet and online sales, Lucy's Law is legislation that bans third party sales. It has made a difference in Wales where puppy farming post the 'foot and mouth' epidemic was once encouraged by Government.

Awareness and education is the only way to battle the situation, which can be seen as implicit in Ireland. 

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