A sharp rise in unlicensed "backyard breeders" putting profits before pet welfare is leading to a worrying increase in dangerous dog attacks.
According to experts, puppies are being bred in horror conditions or even vehicles, with many dogs left unable to sleep or even breath due to serious health issues.
Gangsters looking to make fast cash are bolstering the cruel trade, with many breeders operating illegally in the UK, an investigation by the Mirror has found.
Dog breeding pens can be bought for as little as £200 online, with one litter of puppies often making upwards of £10,000.
A dog pregnancy spans 57 to 70 days, which means a backyard breeder with one bitch can make between £50,000 and £60,000 in just one year.
Dog trainer Kate Golding, of Scawby, Lincs, said: “Dogs can sell for a lot of money – fashionable Frenchies, American Bullys and Bulldogs can make tens of thousands if not more per litter.
“It’s easy money, particularly if you’re not investing in their environment or how they’re brought up and you’re happy to sell to the highest bidder.”
Sting operations carried out by animal welfare agencies and local authorities have uncovered the squalid conditions of puppy mills. Several dogs are often crammed into tiny cages, left in small bedrooms blocked by a baby gate or even kept in the back of vans.
They are often badly neglected with no access to proper nutrition and sunlight, or left to live in their own excrement.
In one image, a backyard breeder has used corrugated iron tied together to block off a tiny corner of their garden. Neighbours claimed they were keeping Jack Russell dogs in the “barren” space.
Earlier this week, a clip was shred with the Mirror showing a pack of dogs mauling a six-year-old girl as she played in the street.
Residents had raised concerns about a breeder in the area who kept more than 12 dogs in a caravan in Trafford, Manchester.
The 35-year-old was later charged with eight counts of being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control that caused injury, with police seizing 17 dogs from the property.
The charges are in relation to the girl and another dog attack on a man in December 2022.
Last year was the deadliest on record for dog attacked in more than three decades - with 11 people - including five children aged four or younger - killed by dogs in UK. Experts say incidents involving dangerous dogs have more than tripled since 2000 and believe there is “a direct link” between the rising number of attacks and illegal breeding.
“They are so poorly bred they are often in pain. There is a link between behaviour and pain,” said Vanessa Waddon, of animal charity Hope Rescue, near Cardiff, South Wales. Seven of the last 11 fatal attacks in the UK involved a Bull breed.
The Mirror has also heard reports of rescued XL Bully dogs requiring two or three handlers to control them.
Organise crime groups have become involved in backyard breeding to create designer pets, launder drug money or simply exploit the trade for cash.
Vanessa explained: “There is a very clear link between people who have convictions for drug dealing and illegal puppy farming. We got a load of English and French bulldogs from a police raid where they found drugs, weapons, cash. It is an easy way to launder money, the consequences are not nearly as severe as drug dealing.”
This year, convicted drug gang boss Thomas Raymont was found to be running a bulldog breeding business from behind bars. Raymont, of Warrington, Cheshire was jailed in 2021 for his involvement in a cocaine and heroin supply worth more than £100,000.
During his sentencing at Liverpool Crown Court, Raymond claimed the drug money had been made through his dog breeding business. In January, an undercover journalist found Raymont was still running the UK arm of Muscletone Bullys from prison. Popular Frenchies, Pugs, Bulldogs and Bullys fall into flat-faced breeds.
But animal behaviourist Hannah Molloy warns the animals are “struggling to breathe and sleep”. She said: “Dogs are being bred with what we call ‘extreme conformation’ so there are breeds like French bulldogs and pugs living with painful conditions.”
This dangerous breeding process combined with cruel procedures like ear cropping can make the dogs agitated by the pain. “Ear cropping is illegal but it is not illegal to import a dog with ears cropped. So lots of breeders pretend they have imported them,” said Vanessa. “They’ve bad spines, they are trying to get as much muscle as possible on.”
Another trend in underground breeding is co-owning dogs, where an investor houses a dog while the breeder puts it out to stud, and they split the profits.
Trainer Kate Golding said: “There’s a disregard for personality traits of the parents. We hear ‘the mum growled at us and the dad was the same, we couldn’t go anywhere near him’.” The National Police Chief Council said it is working across the country through its Dangerous Dogs Working Group.
Forces such as North Wales and Sutton Police in London have introduced early intervention systems to warn owners of dangerous behaviour.
But experts say the laws need to be readdressed by government and properly reinforced.
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