AN organiser of a protest against puppy farming believes the underground business is active along the Fermanagh/Cavan border, especially in the Newtownbutler area.
A protest meeting condemning the practice of industrial scale and commercial puppy farming was held outside Cavan Town Courthouse last Monday with dog lovers attending the meeting condemning Ireland as the ‘puppy farming capital of Europe’ with it being particularly prevalent in the border region.
Sue Kilbracken, organiser of the protest believes that puppy farming is happening in Fermanagh, especially in the Newtownbutler area.
“We are pretty sure that puppy farming is happening in Fermanagh but we have no solid proof of it yet. I cannot confirm this but it has been claimed that there is a large puppy farm in the Newtownbutler area of Fermanagh, but I have not had the chance to investigate yet.
It is an incredibly lucrative trade and Ireland is like a warehouse for growing puppies and they are then being illegally transported from the Republic to Northern Ireland and on to Scotland.”
The puppies which are bred in puppy farms are usually mistreated and may be denied veterinary care. The puppy farmer’s main intent of breeding is solely profit.
Thomas O’Reilly, local councillor in the Newtownbutler area, said he hadn’t heard of puppy farming in his home area, but agreed it was a practice that had to be stamped out.
“I have not heard of anyone talking about it in the local area. I do not agree with industrialised puppy farming, plain and simple. I think that there is enough opportunities for people to purchase dogs out of the pound, or from organisation like Bright Eyes who take in unwanted dogs.
I think that there is enough dogs to facilitate those who really want a dog and want a life time friend, and puppy farming at an industrial scale is something that needs to go.”
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