I sadly live next door to a puppy farm. They are VERY clever with their 'marketing' and pass themselves off as responsible, loving breeders. They do have a council licence, although on speaking to the council I am told there is no inspection by them (only a nominated vet) and that as long as the vet is happy, the licence is granted (no consulting neighbours).

This puppy farm has impacted our lives enormously. The noise is horrendous; in the summer we cannot sit outside and enjoy our garden. In the mornings we are woken by the barking. In addition to this we often hear dogs fighting. Aside from the noise and the smell, I feel so desperately sorry for these poor exploited dogs. I do not want to put a noise complaint into the council as they are rather unsavoury neighbours, and it would be obvious who made the complaint.

What got me thinking was I recently spoke to a friend, who is a breeder of pedigree, KC registered dogs. These are very well looked after (she shows regularly) and fully health tested. She has council breeding licence, but she was telling me that in order to get the licence, all her neighbours were consulted (similar to a planning application) before the licence would be granted.

So, does this stance vary between councils, or should we have been consulted by our local council and allowed an opinion? There are around 80+ dogs next door, so you can imagine the noise!

Welcome to the forum TerrierLover. It must be horrendous for you I am sure someone will be along shortly to answer your questions.

It probably does vary, but next door may not be licensed?  Or if they are it is on grandfathers rights (they were there first).  I think some councils are just happy to have any money they can get from license fees.

Environmental Health is the way to go if there is excessive noise, vermin, etc.

The only way you will know what your council's policies are is to contact them.

I don't know how councils grant licenses as if all the aspects of breeding laws was enforced they would not be able to license most of these awful places.

Reporting is only useful if you have evidence and can prove without doubt that laws are broken.

The noise is horrendous; in the summer we cannot sit outside and enjoy our garden. In the mornings we are woken by the barking. In addition to this we often hear dogs fighting. Aside from the noise and the smell,

You MUST get in touch with the environment health officer ASP & complain, most councils give you one of their recording machines to monitor the noise & so they have evidence.

You should not delay making contact with them at all otherwise you may find yourself having to give reasonable, acceptable, answers as why you managed with the noise for so long  & only made a complaint much later - also, better you drop the sentimental sludge, they have non for you, you need it stopped or move away, 'it will get you end' cliche springs to mind!
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TerrierLover I re-read your post, its no use at all contacting the council because they licensed the breeders, they cannot sue themselves!

I'll add more over the week-end but im tired right now.
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If they can prove (doubtful) that laws are being broken then the council would have to do something and suspend or withdraw the licence. 

Sadly what usually happens is a slap on the wrist time given to improve and licencing continues.

Sadly I know of one person who shows their dogs, but breeds an awful lot of litters.  (Breed has very small litters.)  However, they are licensed by the council, and have been for many years.  They have not had a visit/check up for many  years.  The usual response is because the cutbacks mean they have lost manpower and just don't have the resources.

No, I don't know the answer to this one either.

My OH is on local Boro Council..............The OP can complain to Environmental health as they are causing a statutory nuisance, no one has to sue anyone. also they are possibly in breach of licence conditions by causing said nuisance and Enforcement could take action to make them cease the noise.

TerrierLover.....are you still reading this post??........
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Can I ask were you living as their neighbour before or after the first license was granted?

Often people move into areas years after the council have first approved, they know there will be a certain extent of noise from a large dog breeding facility, if you have moved in afterwards you should have been told that you were moving next door to a large dog breeding facility if not that is something you could also take up with the estate agent who sold you the house in not disclosing this.

If this facility is in a built up area with lots of neighbours then yes, you should all complain to the council and the environmental health dept, so many dogs would cause stress to most people's lives and something would be done, if you all complain,

If it is in a more country location, with just yourself as a neighbour not sure if it will hold up, as with dog boarding kennels, certain areas are deemed savoury for these businesses, with lots of dogs.

Yes I am still here... Annoyingly I couldn't log on for some reason to reply until today.

With regards to who lived here first, my partner's family has owned our property for 500+ years, and we (my partner and I) moved in before any puppy farm ever existed.

The council's go-to response is that they do not manage/inspect breeders, they just grant the licence once the application fee is paid. The fact that the place is now being run as a business, and therefore needs change of use/planning permission and becomes rateable would apparently seem irrelevant to all concerned. The council are happy to bury their heads in the sand and happily keep taking their licence fee.

I found our council's stance on it quite odd after speaking to my friend in Essex, who had all her neighbours informed/able to object before she got her licence.

my partner's family has owned our property for 500+ years,

Wow.... that is phenomenal........not many of us can say that but I guess that means you are not in a built up area.

Have you or any family members posed as buyers to go and have a look around the premises? That way you can see what is going on, log it down, take photo's and know for sure.

The only thing I can suggest is that if you hear dog fighting and fear or better still know, that the dogs are being mistreated and not well kept, the RSPCA are the ones to contact, (if the visiting vet has not noticed anything, it may be because the requirements are being met, dogs do occasionally have disagreements when hierarchies' are challenged, it may not be any cruelty going on or being left to fight) 80ish dogs to me says puppy farmer, but who knows?

Councils are all different and you are probably right that they like their fee and that is it.

If you know the dogs are mistreated please call the RSPCA......... people, unfortunately are allowed to dog breed as a business, if they are paying their licensing fee.

Really, you should have been informed, but if your council are not interested......I guess you can only go down the welfare route now.

One other avenue.........the tax office......make sure that they know your neighbours are running a taxable business too. Often places like this do not declare their income, they will definitely give the premises a visit, the only government body that acts quickly.