The owner of the Pic-A-Pet store in Hamilton has fiercely defended his business ­— insisting Government has approved the conditions in which his animals are kept.

The SPCA has received ongoing complaints about the welfare of the pets, which are displayed in the window of the shop on Queen Street, with many airing their concerns on social media this week.

But owner Bryan Parkin says they are well looked after in clean, air-conditioned, well-ventilated conditions and given plenty of exercise and attention. He also said puppies are sold so quickly at the store that they rarely stay in the pens for over a week.

The SPCA said it recently shared some of the complaints with the government animal warden.

However, a government spokesman said: “The government veterinary officer was consulted during the planning stages when various standards from various jurisdictions were considered. Since that time, I have not found Pic-A-Pet to have been out of compliance.”

Deborah Titterton Narraway, communications manager at the Bermuda SPCA, said the charity’s does not condone the displaying of animals in a shop window but that under the current Care and Protection of Animals Act 1975, no laws are being broken making it “difficult to require change”.

She said: “Unfortunately, current laws focus on the physical abuse of an animal and do not take into account the psychological toll certain situation can take on animals.

“The Bermuda SPCA does not condone the importation of puppies for resale. Bringing puppies in without an owner is concerning as it may lead to puppies spending longer periods of time in a pet store. There is the issue of dog welfare in pet shops; the foundations for a puppy’s future behaviour and character are laid down in the first 16 weeks of life. This is a vital time when it is possible to develop the puppy’s brain.”

While the SPCA went on to advise the public to only buy animals from “responsible breeders”, Mr Parkin insisted that he only buys from responsible breeders in the UK and refuses to buy from less reputable puppy farms in the US.

When this newspaper visited the store, Mr Parkin said: “Government has been here and they are happy with what we are doing.

“We went through everything with them before we set this up. We do get people out there who will complain but the animals have air conditioning, the temperature is controlled and the windows have UV covering. “The animals are happy. We have the best quality dogs going specially selected from the UK.”

Mr Parkin wrote a letter to the editor explaining his position back in 2013 and told us that nothing had changed since then. In the letter, Mr Parkin wrote: “We have always placed the wellbeing of all animals first ... From the time we started planning our new store, we worked very closely with the Department of Environmental Protection to ensure that everything we did met and exceeded government standards.

“This has included selecting the most up-to-date and animal-friendly playpens, regulating the light from the street and installing proper ventilation.

“In addition, the puppies are taken out for exercise and feeding on a regular basis. We would suggest their living conditions are better than those found in animal shelters including at the SPCA.”

Ms Titterton Narraway said that, while shelters are not ideal for animals, the SPCA houses them in the best possible conditions and makes it its goal to find them “forever homes” as quickly as possible.