A controversial Scots vet practice owned by man linked to gangland feud has been targeted by vandals.
Police have launched a probe after thugs smashed in the windows of Platinum Vets and K9 Fertility in Strathaven, Lanarkshire, on Tuesday night.
The premises is owned by Scott Bennett, 40, who was arrested last month along with wife Lynn, 38, after police and animal welfare bodies swooped on the vet practice amid concerns about maltreatment of animals.
We told how officers were accompanied by investigators from the SSPCA, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and the Veterinary Medicines Directorate in the swoop on October 28.
The home Bennett shares with partner Lynn Brockett, a mile outside Strathaven, was also raided, with officials examining its kennels complex, which has been used to trade pups.
Both were charged with drug offences.
Enquiries are still ongoing in relation to animal welfare issues.
Locals in the town are said to have witnessed the incident on Wednesday unfolding in front of their eyes.
Pictures taken from the scene show workmen replacing the windows at the vets.
A source told the Daily Record: "The windows at the vets were smashed in.
"Locals witnessed it happening."
Bennett, 41, has been a hugely controversial figure since moving to Strathaven where he built the kennels without planning permission before being granted a retrospective permit.
He then opened two pet care shops, including the premises on the town’s Common Green, which specialises in fertility treatment for breeds like French bulldogs, American bullies and Chihuahuas.
The Record was told about the swoop by locals, who have been appalled at the growth of Bennett’s enterprises in the town.
Bennett was shot in the face in December 2019. It was reported the bullet remained lodged in his neck after being targeted outside a vet practice in Cambuslang, near Glasgow.
Bennett, who employs a vet at his Strathaven practice, offers artificial insemination, progesterone testing, DNA sampling and sperm shipping, as well as microchipping of pups.
Just a month before he was shot, his home at Brae Farm was raided by police, Trading Standards officers and the SSPCA. Cops seized phones, documents and computers, but he was not charged.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We were made aware of windows at a business premises in Common Green Strathaven being vandalised. The incident happened around 4.30pm on Tuesday, 16 November.
"Enquiries are ongoing and anyone with information is asked to contact us on 101, quoting incident number 2962 of Tuesday, 16 November, 2021.”
