'Puppy farm capital' Ireland dogged by trafficking

Dublin

ILLEGAL dog-breeding on an industrial scale has turned Ireland into the "puppy farm capital of Europe", according to campaigners who say a recent crackdown is failing to curb the lucrative business.

Thousands of puppies worth hundreds of euros each are shipped to British ports and then on to mainland Europe every year, many of them secreted in the back of vans and cars.

Ireland's canine trade is "a national disgrace", said Brian Gillen, head of the Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA). "Our aim is to put them out of business," he said. "The more we interrup…