An Aberaeron veterinary practice which came under fire in a BBC report into the licensing of puppy farms insisted this week that they have ‘animal health and welfare as the driving force of all our endeavours at all times’.

Responding to calls for vets to be investigated after BBC Wales Investigates targeted the puppy farm licensing system, Aeron Vets said: “We are working closely with the British Veterinary Association and Ceredigion County Council licensing officers to improve the licensing system for puppy breeding establishments.”

The BBC Wales probe uncovered ‘filthy’ conditions at breeding sites licensed by local councils in Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, with west Wales being described as the ‘puppy farm capital’ of the UK.

After studying footage taken at such farms, including one near Llandysul, a panel of vets claimed in the programme that Aeron Vets did not appear to question the environment in which dogs were being kept, despite lists of animals suffering with health problems.

Yet breeders were still relicensed by Ceredigion County Council and vets failed to raise any concern about the sites in their official reports, the programme claimed.

Aeron Vets said in a statement they had to respect client confidentiality, but that in any situation where they considered animal welfare "compromised", they would "take whatever steps might be within our powers to address the matter".

Ceredigion County Council has been asked to comment, but no response has been received.

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