The owner of a Fivemiletown dog breeding business has revealed that a fire last night, which killed 13 dogs, was in a shed at his elderly father's house.

David Hamilton has told Impartial Reporter.com that the dogs which perished last night "have nothing to do with me."

He said: "My sister keeps a few dogs as pets. She lives about two miles away from my business with our 83-year-old father.

"We are all very upset. My father is upset that the dogs are dead."

Furnish Dog Kennels, based outside Fivemiletown hit the headlines last week after a BBC Scotland journalist secretly filmed young pups being held in trailers and spoke to vets who claimed that practises at the kennels were "barbaric".

"My father called me to say that a shed was on fire and that a fire brigade was on its way. I rushed over, it's about two miles from the kennels that were featured on the documentary.

"We got a bitch and two pups out. The fire consumed the whole building," Mr. Furnish says.

Police patrols have been stepped up in the Clabby area today "to ensure the protection of the public".

Chief Inspector Dodds has said that police have launched an investigation after 13 dogs died in a fire at a shed in the Drumcor Road area of Clabby around 8pm last night (Saturday).

He said that investigations are ongoing to establish if the fire was started deliberately or not.

This fire is currently being linked to a suspicious object found near Furnish Kennels on Friday, which turned out to be nothing untoward.

"We've had threats of all kind - people are saying they will murder us, attack our children; I've never experienced anything like this.

"I've forwarded all these emails to the PSNI who have pledged their support to us," Mr. Hamilton tells Impartial Reporter.com.

He insists that his business complies with dog breeding legislation, adding that Fermanagh and Omagh District Council's Environmental Health officers inspected the facility on Thursday "probably on the back of the documentary". He adds: "The examined every corner, every dog and they raised no issue with me."

He says that his business' reputation is "ruined" and that he will pursue the programme makers to "the highest court in the land."

Meanwhile, police are asking for anyone with information on last night's fire to contact Enniskillen Police Station on the non emergency number 101. Or if someone would prefer to provide information without giving their details, they can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800555111.

See Impartial Reporter.com for updates as this story develops.