studio: we are going to leave the snp conference they are, that was the snp's conference they are, that was the snp's lead in westminster, ian blackford, with a fighting speech, we will go to our correspondence, andrew kerr is at the conference in aberdeen. trying to paint a picture of brexit chaos as he put it, put forward by the government in westminster, no price too high for brexit fanatics, saying he was contrasting that with the progressive views of the scottish government, here led by nicola sturgeon and he went on to make his key point, to cheering and applause from the audience, that he wa nted applause from the audience, that he wanted boris johnson, applause from the audience, that he wanted borisjohnson, the emperor with no clothes on, out of power, wa nted with no clothes on, out of power, wanted to call a vote of no confidence at westminster, and called on the other opposition parties in the so—called rebel alliance tojoin

parties in the so—called rebel alliance to join in with him, parties in the so—called rebel alliance tojoin in with him, labour and the liberal democrats, too. borisjohnson from and the liberal democrats, too. boris johnson from power. he said the snp had a mandate to call a second independence referendum but in a new general election campaign, that would be front and centre of that campaign to reaffirm that mandate for a second independence referendum to have that once and for all, and say that no dictator, in a way, should stand in front of that call for a second independence referendum campaign. actually, nicola sturgeon, the first minister made it clear and we saw earlier today that she would call for that power, the section 30 order from westminster from the uk government in the next few weeks to have that mandate to call a second independence referendum. 0k, many thanks. andrew kerr, our correspondence at the snp conference in aberdeen. and now on bbc news, bbc wales investigates the people behind the multimillion—pound puppy industry. new owners can spend thousands

of pounds on dogs, but what's really going on inside licenced premises? wyre davies confronts the breeders, inspectors and vets who should be policing the trade. i'm travelling through carmarthenshire and ceredigion. this is known as the puppy farm capital of the uk. pups born here are sold to owners all over the country. 0wners like danielle foley. she found winston — a beagle — advertised online. he said that he was like a reputable breeder and he had his own website and it was kind of like all like the perfect

picture, if you get me? she agreed to buy winston for £650 from the breeder — who was licenced by the council. she didn't realise she'd bought from a puppy farm. and he had like a summer house kind of thing just at the bottom of his property where only two of the puppies were. ididn't see any of the other puppies or the puppy's mum. within 2a hours, winston became seriously unwell. he was lying down and when i picked him up his bodyjust kind of flopped, just really weak, so we took him to the out of hours vets and they said they'd keep an eye on him for me. winston was left fighting for his life, just days after leaving the licenced breeder. puppy farming has long been controversial. four years ago, new rules were supposed to improve the industry — health checks from vets, stricter annual inspections by local authorities. but despite repeated warnings —

dogs are still falling sick after being bred in filthy, unfit conditions. conditions that prospective owners are unlikely to see. i'm meeting a campaigner who covertly infiltrates puppy farms across the uk. bernese — mags and dwd — were among five dogs handed over by a puppy farmer to rescuers last year. they were in an awful, dreadful condition. they didn't like strangers or people coming up to them. they certainly didn't want to be touched. the rescue charity says it was told by the breeder that dwd had a prolapsed womb. but vets later found it was a large tumour — the size of a fist — that experts said would not have happened overnight. i can't even begin to think what kind of conditions they must have been in.

puppy farms are inspected at least once a year. if you have three litters or more you have to have a licence. councils don't routinely publish inspection reports — so how do you find out which breeders are playing by the rules? we had to use the freedom of information act to get hold of council reports — and some refused to hand them over. some of the ones we did see showed that despite some breeders being warned again and again by councils about welfare — they're re—licenced — year after year. we wanted to see what conditions were like for ourselves.

this farm near llandysul is run by a couple that have been repeatedly warned to take better care of their dogs — for years. we looked inside their shed — open to the elements — pen after pen of dogs. when we posed as potential customers — we met one of the owners — david jones. dogs kept here were reported to have a long list of painful health problems — cysts, lice and matted fur. but the council still re—licenced — for breeding. we ask if he's got any older dogs for sale. he'd onlyjust met us, but he grabs one and hands it over. give her a good home.

it has no name, no paperwork, no medical history. we took her to the hope rescue charity, in pontyclun. it's manager vanessa waddon was so concerned about her health, she took her straight to the vet. not nice at all, bless her. she'd recently given birth, but still had a puppy inside her. get her on some fluids and we'll see if we can manipulate that out but i'd be worried about more in. if she hadn't got out and got treatment, that could have led to toxic shock and she'd actually could have died. shouldn't be happening. i've been doing this for 15 years now, and it takes a lot to make me cry, and, yeah — that's not good. after emergency surgery, 0lwyn now faces months of recovery

and will be looking for a new home. we've worked out there are an estimated 2a,000 puppies are born in wales every year. that's worth over £12 million. this next breeder has been licenced by ceredigion council for years despite a long list of dogs with serious health problems. 0n the internet, the breeder says their love for their animals is the backbone to their family business. we go in to see if they live up to their advert. this is the farm — north of llandysul. kennels on the yard are empty. but at the back — in a shed with no windows — we found this.

a vet reported that some dogs here had skin conditions like mange and rotting teeth. so why did the council re—licence it for several years. we asked three expert vets, who have an in—depth knowledge of the regulations in wales, to look at our evidence. between them, they have over 100 years of experience. we showed them the first farm — where we were given an ex—breeding dog. it's a farm and it's not really been modified to look after dogs in the way it should. there's no way of controlling temperature, no beds. the panel also had concerns about how many times david jones and his wife were re—licenced by ceredigion council. although recommendations are being made, no steps seem to be taken to move this kennel forward or close it down.

they've had so many chances to put things right and they've failed to do so. they questioned why the second farm — a few miles away — was also re—licenced, when welfare issues were evident for years. i wouldn't expect to go into a breeding establishment and see mange two years in a row. i wouldn't expect to see the numbers of dogs that have overgrown nails, dental problems, certainly they shouldn't be licenced. but both farms gave chris laurence serious cause for concern. i would be thinking about ringing the rspca about these sort of conditions. ceredigion council didn't want to speak to us — but insisted improvements had been made at mr and mrsjones‘ farm near llandysul recently. but what about all the problems over the years? well, apparently the council had to strike a balance between enforcement and education.

and at this other farm a few miles away, it said it couldn't comment due to ongoing legal proceedings regarding its enforcement action. but it's notjust councils that check up on breeders. vets are part of the welfare system too. breeders have to pay them to write health—check reports on their animals in order to keep their licences. and it was this practice — aeron vets — that checked the dogs on the two farms we've just seen. but in their official report, aeron vets don't appear to question how the dogs were being kept. mike jessop is brought in by councils across wales to advise on animal welfare issues. what questions would you have of this vet? i would question whether they are truly able to advise on a breeding establishment because they don't seem to understand the link with this problem with the health and how it relates to the regulations — they should be putting in a very stern warning here that this shouldn't be a breeding centre.

0ur panel agreed. do you think there's been a failure on the part of the vet not fulfilling his duty here? i would say so, yea. actually i would say no dog on a breeding establishment should show clinical signs of lice or mange. it's just unreasonable. itjust smacks of a general lack of care of what's going on. aeron vets wouldn't do an interview, saying they had to respect client confidentiality, but they did tell us that if they felt animal welfare was compromised they would do whatever was within their powers to address the matter. but if the animal welfare system fails, it's dogs that suffer — and owners who can lose hundreds — even thousands of pounds. at the vets, the outlook for danielle's puppy winston wasn't good.

i got a call, that winston was positive for parvo. he had contracted a virus that is often fatal. parvo is highly contagious, but can be prevented with vaccination. when i asked the breeder, could i have his vet card, he told me that he vaccinates them himself. then when we spoke on the phone, he told me i should have brought him back and he had all the antibiotics for him. but things took a turn for the worse. two o'clock in the morning, the vets rung my mum. he said that his organs are shutting down and it's going to be a slow, painful death, so can they make it quick and easy for him. this is the farm danielle bought

winston from, near kidwelly. we found this shed at the back. inside, lots of breeding dogs and puppies. we got hold of their council inspection report from earlier this year. it says this place had problems with its waste, record keeping, and parvo virus. astonishingly it states the owner kicked a dog while the inspection was taking place. he was still given a licence, approved by carmarthenshire council. the breeder denies animal cruelty. it was also here in carmarthenshire that another puppy farmer handed over sick dogs to a rescue charity last year. mags and dwd were two of them. those rescued dogs had been

microchipped, but were not registered to anyone like they should have been by law. we've trawled through hundreds of inspection reports comparing microchip numbers, and we worked out where those dogs came from. 0ur undercoverjournalist paid an early morning visit to this farm run by aneurin francis, south of carmarthen. we spot the same breed of dog as mags and dwd. i could see two sheds with dogs in. some of them just looked like concrete boxes, nothing else there for them, and they were really dirty. lots of the dogs just seemed too nervous to come up to us. their basic welfare needs are not being met in that sort of environment. it's not clear how long the dogs that were given away by the breeder lived here.

come on, baby. dwd's cancer has now spread and she can no longer walk. mammy loves you, that's my girl. maria has made the difficult decision to have her put to sleep. there we are. you go nights nights now. that's my girl. the breeder aneurin francis admits handing over the dogs but says they were under veterinary supervision. he claims when the dogs left they had no visible health problems. back on the road, we headed to another site in carmarthenshire. this time, the council knew the breeder was keeping

dogs in poor conditions. he was warned repeatedly to improve things. things we saw for ourselves when we arrived. dogs with matted coats and concerns about access to water and exercise. this place continues to be licenced. i see you. oh, god. faeces all over the floor. 0utside we make a grim discovery. is that a dead dog?

left there. where do you start? on a very basic level there are no clean surfaces, the place is dirty. some of those very young puppies, the bitches will still be lactating, they've got a high demand for water and they haven't got access to it. it's dark, it's depressing, there's no enrichment for the dogs, and to see the last bit of the footage with a dead dog just laid out... why would you do that? can you understand why this place was allowed to continue operating? no, no, not a clue. this is the breeder, kevin thomas. he told us the kennels are thoroughly cleaned on a daily basis and disputes that dogs didn't have access to water. he denied his establishment was dark and depressing and insisted there was plenty of enrichment for the dogs. the dead dog we found had choked

on a toy and after seeing a vet, he'd left it outside to be buried. he claims he complies with all the regulations and his dogs are happy, well looked after. but there is good practice in this industry. i've come to see a breeder in swansea with expert vet mikejessop. dogs here are surrounded with the sights and sounds of a household environment. important things for me are up to date vaccinations and up to date health check. like every licenced breeder, steve must have his dogs checked by a vet every year. they have got to certify that the dog is fit to breed, so they should know this dog is living in good quality conditions, that is being managed

as per the regulations. steve's records also prove that all dogs have been vaccinated. the big scary disease is parvovirus, because it's so contagious. it's a gastroenteritis which is largely fatal. so if they're vaccinated, it'll stop the progression of that disease quite quickly. the man who sold danielle her puppy said it had been vaccinated against parvovirus, yet winston died after contracting it. we paid winston's breeder a visit, posing as buyers. how are you? just like danielle, we're shown into what the breeder calls his dog show room. what breeds have you got here, then? he's offering to sell these

daschunds for £1,200 each. a puppy should be checked by a vet before any vaccination. but when we asked about parvo virus, he said the vet doesn't come out to see the puppies, and he doesn't take them in for a check—up either. but a vet has to see the puppies before selling a vaccine. so it would appear this breeder is not following the vaccination rules. this is his registered practice, towy vets in carmarthen.

they didn't want to be interviewed and wouldn't tell us if they supplied vaccines without seeing the puppies first. we got hold of the most recent health check report they did for the breeder. it's lacking in detail, but does say some dogs are fit to breed when they're just three months old and lists one beagle as being fit to breed even though it's described as being "dead". does this vet report strike you as rather thin on detail? yes, lax, very thin on detail. this is the only record of these dogs that we have, so we have no idea if they're vaccinated, when did they whelp, how many litters have they had? we have nothing. towy vets told us that in light of our enquiries, an investigation is now under way. carmarthenshire council told us that inspections only provide a snapshot and they welcome any evidence to help them take appropriate action where needed.

that it has a strong and proactive approach to enforcing dog breeding standards and has now employed a vet to help them complete inspections. but what about the breeder, who didn't follow the rules on vaccinations, the man who sold winston, the beagle pup who died at barely nine weeks old? alun douch told us he maintained excellent standards and always addressed things like parvo and was never cruel to his animals. but he didn't answer all our questions about vaccinations and antibiotics. i've come to his farm to try again. hello, mr douch, it's wyre davies. you don't?

what about the puppy you sold with parvo? but one thing experts seem to agree on is that it's notjust breeders and councils at fault here, but some vets too. the system is definitely broken and vets are absolutely an integral part of it. we absolutely, as a profession, have a part to play. our responsibility is to the health and welfare of the animals under our care. i think some of the vets' standards have slipped. they're not doing what they should be doing and working in the best interests of welfare of the animals. there are some clear examples here where some professional colleagues have been found wanting. and i would have no problem handing that information over

to the royal college. the welsh government said it was deeply disturbed by the evidence we uncovered, but like both councils in this programme, it refused to interviewed. it's considering introducing something called lucy's law. it would mean you'd only be able to buy puppies from the place they were born, and customers could then see if conditions there were bad. but, say our experts, given the weakness of existing laws, more fundamental reforms are required. at the farm near llandysul, where some dogs had mange and rotting teeth, the breeder rhydianjones has recently had his licence revoked. but is he still selling pups? hello! he offered us this one for £600. remember, conditions here were not good enough to be licensed, but it sounds like there are more pups on the way. anything else coming up? while ceredigion council told us they'd taken enforcement action against rhydian jones. .. ..at the other farm near llandysul, where we were handed the sick dog, the licence has been renewed again, this time on a three—month rather

than a i2—month term. the breeder said they've engaged with the council to "ensure the highest industry standards" and felt our expert panel's comments were not relevant. they said sometimes dogs become unwell with problems that haven't yet been diagnosed. but they didn't answer all our questions about 0lwyn, the dog they handed over. we want to ask why they gave a severely ill dog to strangers, a dog that needed treatment to save its life, a dog that they gave without any paperwork or notification. hello? excuse me, what are you

doing? we are from bbc wales investigates. can you go? can you telus about the dog that you sold us that was seriously ill and died?” am now filming you. can you leave? you art answering any of our questions? —— you aren't answering. things are finally starting to look up for 0lwyn. she's been found new owners. and today she's meeting them. they're really happy, perfect. 0lwyn can now look forward to a brighter future. but how many other dogs will be as lucky, with so many questions about breeders, councils and even some vets?

an awful lot of wet pictures this weekend. thankfully, at last, the sun has come out across the south—west. this was a picture from one of our weather watchers, you can see dry and bright weather, creeping in as time goes on. and further towards the east, it will be very welcome. further north, the rain is there to be had for the rest of the day. daylight hours across the north of england and southern scotland. the eastern fringes of northern ireland too. at best, temperatures of 17 or 18 degrees. 0vernight, we

get rid of that rain. it will be chilly, away from where we bring the rain back into the south—east. a new area of cloud and rain manifesting in the south—western approaches. some uncertainty on how fast the rain extends on monday, at the country. it could turn wet in northern ireland. if you've not heard a mention so far, it will not bea heard a mention so far, it will not be a bad day. isa 15 degrees. —— highs of 15 degrees.

this is bbc news. i'm reeta chakrabarti. the headlines at three. as their party conference gets under way in aberdeen, the snp calls on other oppostion parties at westminster to pull together to defeat the conservatives. every day that labour mps fight with themselves and run scared from a general election is another day that we are suffering from the tories remaining in power! meanwhile, boris johnson tells his cabinet a brexit deal is on the horizon, but there's still a significant amount of work to get there. the family of harry dunn, who died in a collision with an american woman who then fled to the us, are flying there now, hoping for a meeting. hundreds are reported to have escaped from a camp in northern syria, holding family members of islamic state fighters

as an offensive by turkey continues.