Two people have been reported to the procurator fiscal after more than a hundred animals were rescued from a puppy farm in Aberdeenshire.
About 90 dogs were taken away from the East Mains of Ardlogie farm, near Fyvie, in November when the Scottish SPCA executed a warrant on the land.
It was the second time the compound had been raided by officers over fears for the welfare of animals.
In 2013, 72 dogs were seized from what the charity described as “horrific” conditions as part of a wider operation to stop illegal breeding.
Now a man and woman from the site have been reported to the Crown ahead of charges being levelled.
Last night, an undercover inspector for the Scottish SPCA said: “A report has now been submitted to the procurator fiscal following a Scottish SPCA investigation in the Aberdeenshire area which resulted in 105 animals being seized.
“The Scottish SPCA is a reporting agency to the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service and our inspectors are authorised to enforce The Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006.
The action at Fyvie was carried out under the banner of the charity’s Operation Delphin, a multi-agency scheme aimed at detecting illegal breeders and disrupting their trade.
A spokesman for the Crown added the case remained “under consideration”.
“The Procurator Fiscal has received a report concerning a 52 year-old man and a 28 year-old woman in connection with an alleged incident in Fyvie, Aberdeenshire on November 14, 2017,” he said.
In the swoop at Fyvie last year, rabbits and ferrets were also taken away.