Dormice take on Crown Pet Foods

A planned state-of-the-art factory for the production of dry pet food in Somerset has come up against objections from protestors who say it will destroy a nationally important wildlife site and make local roads a nightmare. Crown Pet Foods Ltd, which produces dry pet food for Royal Canin and James Wellbeloved, wants to move production from Lancashire to Somerset. Supplying the UK and exporting to Northern Europe, the proposed factory will produce 60,000 t of pet food per year. Despite some local objections, the development was given the go-ahead by Somerset District Council. Local protestors are now rallying around a rare colony of dormice that the developers plan to evict from the site.