ScuttleButter, does this mean anything to you?

[DogsBestFriend]

www.thepetitionsite.com/1/west-wales-pound-dogs/

Do you know anything about this please? I note the establishment isn't named so I can't find anything out about it.

[DOLLYDAYDREAMER]

i think it might be in australia - new south wales area maybe

[Pisky]

I saw something about this petition in the local shop window - in Carmarthenshire, West Wales. So not Australia.

[DogsBestFriend]

No, it's in Wales, UK, Dolly. :)

I'm sadly all too aware of the horrors of puppy farming but am far less knowledgable about it than ScuttleButter.

[Scuttlebutter]

OK. This has been going on for a while and is a very good illustration of what puppy farming involves. It centres on a farm called Beili Bedw Farm, Llanllwni, Pencader, Carmarthenshire SA39 9DP. Back in March the farmer applied via an agent for retrospective planning consent to alter agricultural buildings used for lambing and feed storage into accommodation for dogs. The application if approved will allow the farmer to keep up to 180 dogs.

Since then, a large volume of objections have been received and the application has been delayed, but my understanding is that officers have recommended that the application be approved.

The petition will be of no use at all. If you sign it thinking you are helping you are wasting your time.

It is also useless to contact the Council to say you do not approve of puppy farming.

What will help are reasoned serious objections that the Cllrs can turn down the application on - planning grounds NOT welfare grounds. Planning Committee CANNOT legally turn down an application just because they don't like the look of an application - you are wasting everyone's time if you object on this basis.

What you can object to are solid, reasonable grounds, such as increased traffic, waste disposal issues, noise, vermin, flies, possible groundwater pollution and the likelihood that the planned accommodation will not meet the proposed modest improvements in animal welfare standards that Wales are bringing in.

Put bluntly, 180 dogs, that's a lot of poo. The question of whether this farm should be licensed for 180 dogs is another matter, and is dealt with by another department, not the planning department. Unfortunately, Carmarthenshire have an abysmal record of poor management of licensing puppy farms.

The application and all associated paperwork are online at the Carmarthenshire website. Go into the planning area of the website and you can search for it either by postcode or by application number - W/24449.

Please keep objections courteous, polite and factual, no matter what your views on the applicant or the state of puppy farming in general.

This application is, although big, not one of the biggest and indicates the industrial scale of puppy farming in West Wales. When people say "Oh, it's just a few puppies, or it's just a hobby" remember 180 dogs. On one farm. Most will be sold via dealers to English purchasers, either through pet shops or the internet.

[DogsBestFriend]

Fucking hell!

Sorry, but... well... fucking hell!

I'm too knackered to be coherent tonight but will put in a carefully considered, rational and polite objection in the morning. (I can do those things, honest!).

[DogsBestFriend]

Oh, sorry, told you I was tired... THANK YOU ScuttleButter!

(And I just said I can do polite too! ).