Dry nuggets are loaded into food hoppers, but these are only cleaned once a month so food often gets mouldy and can be infested with maggots in summer. In a bid to cut down fighting, in some pens food is simply scattered on the floor and may get covered in urine and faeces. Some pens have no proper drainage facilities. Our investigator found mouse droppings in pens and food hoppers, and dead mice in the food preparation and storage areas.

There appears to be a general lack of concern for the physical and mental wellbeing of the dogs. There are simply too few staff. One person may have the day-to-day responsibility for up to 300 dogs to clean out, water and monitor.

When our investigator started there was no formal training of new staff. She was not shown how to carry out health checks or even how to correctly handle dogs.

In the stock units dogs may be housed up to 19 to a pen. There is no structured programme of exercise, human contact or socialisation. In many cases older breeding females and stud males are timid and scared - they cower or hide when a member of staff approaches them. Because of the lack of human socialisation and environmental enrichment, many of the stock dogs behave like wild animals and do not know how to react with humans. The barren, concrete pens offer no stimulation. Our investigator was told that Harlan UK refused to buy toys or nyla-bones because they were too expensive, so the dogs become bored and frustrated.

Daily health checks of dogs simply do not take place. Even if the staff were asked to do so, monitoring around 300 dogs would be impossible. As a result, any non-apparent health problems may simply go unnoticed. The only times that dogs are dealt with individually are once a month for weighing, once every three months for treatment of ears, once every six months for worming, or if they are to be health checked prior to shipment to meet an order. This scarcely allows for suitable health monitoring.

One dog, DJ0402, was found to have a lump on her side. This turned out to be a broken rib (probably caused by a fight but unnoticed) that had become infected and swollen. She was killed and 'bled out' (see 'Killing Time').

There is general neglect of the dogs' routine health - overgrown nails, poor teeth and dirty coats etc. Preventative treatments may be delayed because records are poorly maintained, with medications and treatments routinely past their 'use-by' date.

Dogs scheduled for slaughter may be denied treatments, whether for routine medication for worming, ear treatments or vaccinations, or for particular problems such as growths, abscesses or sticky eyes. Our investigator was told by the chief technician not to treat a female with an ulcerated sore on her foot because she would probably be killed and 'bled out'.

The psychological stresses of living in these bleak conditions can manifest in bullying, fights - and therefore injuries - on a daily basis. The lack of socialisation or stimulation results in boredom and frustration, encouraging aggression.

The outside pens have bar partitions that run to the floor - there is no solid lower dividing wall. This means that when the frequent fights break out between pens, a dog's paws, tail or ears can become trapped in the bars. Recently one female had to be killed following a fight in which she was attacked by dogs in the next pen - her paw was trapped in the bars and she was bitten to the muscle. As dogs have access to the outside pens at night, such incidents can occur when no staff are present.

Within the pens, bullying, fighting and injuries are so common that, in some cases, staff take no notice. Some fights may just be scuffles but others lead to serious situations where one dog is repeatedly bullied, bitten or attacked, resulting in the animal being dragged around the pen like a rag doll.

Fights are often difficult to break up and staff may be attacked if they try to intervene. If left unchecked, dogs may fight to the death. DJ0738 was attacked during the night. With no staff there to break it up he was bitten from head to toe. In the morning his body was discovered already stiff.

Fights occur for a number of reasons. The stock units are overcrowded, sometimes 19 dogs to a pen. Lack of stimulation leaves the dogs bursting with energy yet bored and frustrated. Staff may not check for compatibility when placing the dogs in pens. Dogs that have never met may be lumped together into a pen under highly stressful conditions. Fights also occur over food, particularly with breeding females.

There are insufficient isolation facilities for dogs to recover from fight-related injuries and the dog may simply be returned to the pen in which it was attacked, or placed in a wire-grid transit cage. Animals suffering from shock need to be kept warm and quiet to recover.