Northern Ireland’s biggest council area has no registered puppy breeders on their books, yet has tens of thousands of dogs in the local population.
The entire country has 45 breeders who have licensed their business with their local authority, and a registered total of 1,732 breeding bitches.
But it is estimated that Northern Ireland's dog numbers could be rocketing towards the half a million figure, with official and out-dated numbers still sitting at 302,000 and no further reliable checks available.
