Swindon hub for Puppy Farming

Puppy farming is on the rise and Swindon is becoming a hub for drop offs. The Wiltshire Staffordshire Bull Terrier charity say they're getting 60 calls a week from people who've bought a dog out the back of a car. These dogs don't have any papers showing who their parents are and often they're beomcing hard to control and rather poorly.

Claire Lingard, a rescuer for the charity in Collingbourne Kingston, says they've got 35 pure-breds in the kennels at the moment and 39 on their waiting list.  She says that she's getting calls from people who are struggling to control their dog, which they think are Staffordshire's but when she takes a look at them she says it's obvious they're mongrels.

She thinks Swindon is such a hot spot for dropping off puppy farmer dogs because it's near the M4 and easy for people to come in with a car full.

Claire also says people are telling her they've been approached in Swindon's town centre by people with flyers showing 'abandoned' puppies.  She says a lot of these are turning out to be puppy farmed puppies too.

She's got this advice if you are looking to buy a dog.