Almost 100 puppies have been rescued from a "shocking example" of the illegal puppy trade.

Two shipments of dogs - including beagles, basset hounds, labradoodles and pomeranians - were intercepted at Holyhead Port.

The puppies - aged around six or seven weeks' old - were on two separate ferries arriving at Holyhead from Dublin yesterday morning and were being kept in "hugely inappropriate" conditions.

In a statement on its website the DSPCA said the 96 puppies were rescued by the RSPCA as part of Operation Delphin, a multi-agency collaboration targeting the illegal puppy trade into the UK from Ireland.

The puppies were returned to Ireland and are in the care of the DSPCA, which said a number of them are ill and undergoing veterinary treatment at the DSPCA’s shelter in Rathfarnham in Dublin.

Ian Briggs, of the RSPCA's special operations unit, said: "These poor puppies were being carted into Wales in deeply inappropriate conditions in the early hours of the morning.

"Sadly, to unscrupulous dealers, these young pups are nothing more than a cash bonanza - and dealers would have been targeting tens of thousands of pounds from these shipments.

"This is another shocking example of people being readily prepared to act illegally and compromise the welfare of defenceless animals to make a quick buck - but, fortunately, they were stopped in their tracks."