THE DSPCA SAYS its shocked by the animal abuse and volume of puppy farms on online trading sites.

It’s after it carried out an investigation into online trading sites in recent weeks.

One of the findings was an unidentified trader who had over 40 puppies advertised in more than 10 advertisments.

DoneDeal is the largest seller of animals online, the Dublin Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals met with senior management from DoneDeal earlier this week.

The DSPCA requested the assistance of DoneDeal in identifying unscrupulous traders.

CEO of DoneDeal, John Warburton, said “We would urge everyone who notices anything suspicious when it comes to dog breeding to report it immediately to us.”

The DSPCA also recommended that DoneDeal remove its animal selling section from its website with immediate effect.

Warburton responded by saying:

The DSPCA calling on DoneDeal to cease all sales of animals on our site would actually drive the market underground and make it very difficult to track down those who sell animals illegally.

“We have a strong commitment to the welfare of all animals in Ireland”.

The DSPCA is urging all animal welfare agencies who advertise on DoneDeal to cease from doing so immediately.