The distressing discovery comes as the RSPCA calls for the introduction of new legislation to better protect dogs and puppies being bred for sale.

Distressing discovery made in Hertfordshire

A puppy dumping ground believed to be used by puppy farmers has been discovered in Hertfordshire.

RSPCA officers were alerted to the bodies of nine puppies found in undergrowth in Hogg End Lane, St Albans, on Saturday, 27 February.  

Thought to be a mix of terriers and collies, the pups are believed to be between the ages of six and eight-weeks old.

RSPCA animal collection officer Kate Wright said: “We had reports of collapsed puppies in a ditch and I rushed over to the site and there they were. There had been no effort to cover them up.

“They were obviously already dead, and had been dead for a day or two. They were all covered in sawdust and some looked skinny. The little pads on their paws were red raw like they’d been living in urine. They absolutely stank.

“I had a look around the area and, in the same ditch, I found decomposed corpses, bones and fur. I realised the horror that this ditch is obviously used on a regular basis - it was heartbreaking.”

RSPCA investigators believe that the lane is used regularly for the dumping of bodies of dead dogs. 

Kate added: “There was nothing to suggest how these puppies had died. My immediate thought was that they had come from some sort of puppy farm.”

In January, RSCPA officers were called to the same area after bodies of puppies were found inside a suitcase. Remains were also found at the site last Autumn.

The distressing discovery comes as the RSPCA calls for the introduction of new legislation to better protect dogs and puppies being bred for sale.

The Scrap the Puppy Trade campaign was launched in October in response to an 88 per cent increase in the number of calls about the puppy trade receive in the last three years.