Melinda and Les Paxton addressed councillors at a meeting at Bacchus Marsh last night to defend themselves against claims in a council report that they had as many as 59 dogs on their property at one time.

The couple made a retrospective claim to house the 30 animals on their Marshalls Lane property.

"The whole thing has got out of hand a little bit," Mr Paxton said.

"There have never been 59 dogs on the property," Mr Paxton said."There were 46 and when (the council worker) told us we could only have 30, we put the rest up for sale on the internet and got rid of them."

Neighbouring property owners complained about dogs escaping, excessive noise and people shooting kangaroos to feed the dogs.

Council compliance officers also reported that dogs were chained to trees and cars, kept in cages with concrete floors without sufficient water, and that raw meat was thrown on the ground for the dogs to eat.

Mr Paxton said he had quickly complied with any conditions council officers had instructed him on.

"We put up fences before the due date and the vet microchipped 30 dogs. If they were in poor condition the vet would have done something about it," he said.

He said an RSPCA officer had cleared the couple of mistreatment of the animals and claimed the lack of appropriate waste management was due to council red tape.

"I can't put in an effluent pit until the shire says how."

The report of the council compliance officer said objections to the permit application were based on the fact Mr Paxton had a history of non-compliance with the number of dogs on the property and with the registration of dogs.

It also said investigations revealed Mr Paxton was running a puppy farm, despite his claims the animals were kept as pets.

The council unanimously rejected the application.