There are legal dog breeders in Ireland that have more than 300 breeding bitches on-site, according to the DSPCA.

The animal welfare charity is warning that it is impossible to care for so many animals and their puppies at the one time.

On Breakfast Briefing with Shane Beatty this morning, DSPCA spokesperson Gillian Bird called for a new limit on the number of breeding bitches per breeding establishment.

“Currently it is all dependent on your facilities,” she said.

“There are some breeding establishments that are registered that have 300 or more breeding bitches registered and what we are really looking for is the fact that dogs should not be mass-produced on this scale – because there are only so many animals that can be cared for.

“If you have 300 breeding bitches, you have also got puppies and it is about making sure that the animals that are being bred are being well cared for at the end of the day.”

She said there are some “very, very good breeders who would be breeding small numbers of animals” but the DSPCA wants stronger regulations around “who can register and how breeding bitches you can have.”

Ms Bird said the main issue is that people are still buying puppies without properly checking where they have come from.

“It is all about the demand,” she said. “Currently, we still have a demand for puppies to be bought but it is a question really of even more education of the public.

“The public need to be aware that a lot of the time, they are being lied to by the people who are actually selling these animals.

“They are lying to the public a lot of the time and I think generally the public would not buy animals knowing they are being mass produced. They want a family pet that has come from a loving home at the end of the day and that is what they deserve to get.

“Unfortunately, a lot of the time, they are not getting that from the suppliers of these animals.”

She noted that animals from puppy farms are often taken to rented homes to meet their new families, so the buyer does not see the puppy farm conditions they were born in.

“We have seen situations where animals have been brought form mass breeding establishments to different areas of the country and sold as an animal that has come from a family home,” she said.

“So, a lot of the time people are unaware they are coming from these large breeding establishments.”

Ms Bird warned that “an awful lot of animals” are still being smuggled out of the country, often through the North.

“That really needs to be addressed and it is the general issue around the mass production of dogs and who actually is in charge of looking after that, that is really one of our questions,” she said.

She said legislation governing dog breeding establishments needs to be brought under the animal health and welfare act so Animal Welfare Inspectors can carry out checks.

Separately, Dogs Trust this week launched its new ‘End Puppy Farming’ campaign – urging people right around the country to speak out on behalf of the voiceless animals on illegal farms.