Badgers
Mark Paddock (37) of Aintree Close, Leegomery, Telford was sentenced to 90 days in prison, suspended for two years, he will also have to observe a night-time curfew and do 200 hours of unpaid community work. He was found guilty on 4/10/07 of illegally hunting and killing a badger at night – with his two lurchers. He claimed he had been out “rabbiting” when his dogs went for the badger and he had killed it for humane reasons. After his arrest Paddock’s former home in Donnington was searched and two lock knives were found. One of the knives had badger blood on it. Mobile phone footage of the attack was also used in court. He was also ordered to pay £2,600 in court costs after the judge decided he could not afford the full cost of £26,000. The remainder will be paid by the RSPCA.
Two brothers Dean Jones (27) of Cedar Road, Sturry and Dale Jones (25) of Mill Road, Sturry, near Canterbury both denied a string of offences after being caught with three terriers near a badger’s sett. But they were convicted on 15/10/07 of attempting to injure a badger, making the dogs enter the sett, causing unnecessary suffering to the dogs and abandoning them.each received a five-month suspended prison sentence, 250 hours community service and were ordered to both pay costs totalling £4,000. The court also ordered the forfeiture of the dogs and asked the RSPCA to re-home them. The brothers were also banned from keeping dogs for two years.
At Kilmarnock Sheriff Court on 15/11/07 Craig Morrison (22) from Dalry, Ayrshire, admitted three charges after his dogs mauled two badger cubs. Morrison had been charged with nine offences but pleaded guilty to three charges, including cruelly ill-treating badgers by sending dogs into a sett and he was given 175 hours community service. Morrison was also banned from keeping dogs for two years and ordered to pay £1,200 towards the upkeep of his dogs, which have been kept in SSPCA kennels. Hunting equipment including two live catch traps, a tracking harness, shovels and a map were confiscated.
On 19/12/07 Sean Dodds (17) and Kyle Lawrie (19) both pleaded guilty at Jedburgh Sheriff Court to digging for a badgers. Sentence was deferred until 17/1/08.
Bloodsports
On 30/1/07 the North Shropshire Hunt pleaded guilty at Market Drayton magistrates to four charges relating to breaching a discharge consent to the River Roden. They were fined a total of £3,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1,181.10. The court also took four similar offences into consideration.
Gamekeeper Richard McMorn (48) of Ancroft Town Farm near Berwick was arrested following a joint investigation involving Northumbria Police, the RSPB and Natural England, amid fears that the toxins were being used to kill wildlife. At Berwick magistrates on 4/10/07 they heard how McMorn was found to be in possession of a quantity of Yeltox, which had been banned under EC regulations in 2001. He also had a quantity of Cymag which had been banned in 2004 also found was quantities of Phostoxin and Anul Nitrate (Cyanide), two controlled substances which should have been kept under lock and key. McMorn pleaded guilty to four charges of possession/storage of illegal and hazardous pesticides and was fined a total of £600 with £70 costs.
Three huntsmen, accused by the League against Cruel Sports of hunting illegally, will be tried under the Hunting Act. Two of the three accused members of the Minehead Harriers appeared at Taunton magistrates on 9/10/07. William Goffe of Wootton Courteney, Somerset and Gary Bradley, of Timberscombe, Somerset, both denied the charge. Bradley denied a further public order offence and was given bail. A plea of not guilty was also entered for Sidney Westcott of Bossington, Somerset, who was not 
present at court. The case has been adjourned until 12/11/07, when a trial date will be set.
A hunt supporter was found guilty of GBH after he broke a protester’s arm with his walking stick. John Hawkins (69) of Singers Farm, Henfield Road, Cowfold, denied causing grievous bodily harm to the protester but at Brighton Crown Court on 11/10/07 the jury returned a majority guilty verdict. During the trail the court heard violence had flared at the end of a meeting of the Crawley and Horsham Hunt. Hawkins hit the protester once on the head and again on the arm with his walking stick as groups of pro and anti-hunt supporters gathered. On 9/11/07 he was given eight months imprisonment, which was suspended for a year by Hove Crown Court.
Police trapped a Liverpool gang who dug up rats and then watched them being ripped apart by a pack of dogs. Seven men were caught taking part in the hunt on private farm land in St Helens. The men went to the Mossborough Estate armed with spades and they pinpointed rat runs and pulled up sods of earth to expose the rats. A police helicopter monitored the gang from above as the spaniels and terriers ripped the rats to pieces. When the police arrived they found around 30 animal carcasses strewn across the ground. The men were arrested and charged after police took their registration numbers. They were convicted of hunting a wild mammal with dogs and each fined £400 and ordered to pay £65 court costs at St Helens magistrates on 15/10/07. Daniel Dooley (22) from Stockbridge Lane, Darren Fairclough (26) from Marled Hey, Michael Smith (30) from Round Hey, John Weeder (19) from Boode Croft and Paul Hoffman (25) from Boode Croft, all Stockbridge Village, and Adam McIlvenna (21) of Firethorne Road, Halewood, and Kevin Walton (31) from Frederick Lunt Avenue, Knowsley, were all issued with Section 59 orders which prevents them driving on to private land. They also received a harassment notice. A gamekeeper claimed he saw them armed with “lamping” equipment and could identify those involved as they had been on the private land before and he had been intimidated and threats made against him.
On 16/10/07 the police arrested a man following an incident in which a Jack Russell was attacked by hounds from the Blackmore and Sparkford Vale Hunt in Somerset. The man was walking along a footpath when two men brought hounds into the field and 20 to 30 of the pack raced towards him and nine-month-old terrier. He said: “I was concerned and picked Spike up. The hounds came over and were jumping up as I tried to hold him out of their reach. They skinned his stomach and leg and I got a nip on the nose. “It was very upsetting – if I hadn’t had Spike on a lead I am sure he would not be here today. There was no provocation for this and it is worrying.” He reported the incident to police and a police spokesman said yesterday that a man in his 30s had been arrested and interviewed. Joint master of the hunt Mike Felton said: “It is a very regrettable incident, and I perfectly understand that they don’t want their dog molested. It is not something that we would want to happen in any circumstances.
Two huntsman convicted of breaking the law prohibiting hunting have had their appeal against conviction rejected. Huntsman Richard Down (44) of Bagborough, Somerset and whipper-in Adrian Pillivant (36) of Willand, Devon both of the Quantock Staghounds, were convicted after being filmed by the League Against Cruel Sports. The league filmed the pair chasing a deer for more than an hour, and the hunters were convicted. A judge at Taunton Crown Court on 19/10/07 rejected their appeal, saying the pair were hunting for sport. Both were convicted at Bristol magistrates on 7/6/07.
A County Durham gamekeeper who kept wild birds has been ordered to carry out 180 hours of community service. RSPCA inspectors and police found two goldfinches kept in cages on land belonging to Daniel Robinson (42) from Bishop Auckland. He admitted two charges of possessing wild birds at Newton Aycliffe magistrates on 16/11/07. The birds were subsequently released back into the wild. Inspectors also found recordings of birdsong, a cage trap, teasel plants commonly used to attract birds, metal poles and netting, during a search of Rosemount Allotments at South Church in Bishop Auckland. Robinson was also ordered pay £320 costs to the RSPCA.
On 19/11/07 a hunt steward received a warning under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. Sussex police issued the warning to Christopher Curtis (left), a hunt steward with the Crawley and Horsham hunt after harassing a hunt monitor.
The man behind an anti hunt monitor website is Andrew Leaver (right), a Crawley and Horsham Hunt steward. He was arrested on 16/11/07 after taking photographs in a court building and putting one up on his website. Taking photos or video “within the precincts of a court” is a serious offence and is arrestable without warrent. Leaver, however, only recieved a formal police caution.
Clarissa Dickson Wright (60) from Inveresk, East Lothian is accused of hunting hares with dogs and attending a hare-coursing event at Nunnington, Helmsley and two similar offences at Amotherby. She has pleaded not guilty by letter. Six others also stand accused, Sir Mark Prescott, who pleaded not guilty to the same charges. A pre-trial hearing was held yesterday at Scarborough magistrates on 20/11/07 when a two-week trial was set for 14/4/08. Also accused is Miles Henry Easterby (78), known as Peter, of Habton Grange Farm, Great Habton, near Malton. He is accused of permitting land to be used for and attending hare-coursing. John Shaw (54) of Welburn Manor, Welburn, near Kirkbymoorside, is charged with the same offence. Andrew Lund-Watkinson (56) of Pine View Lodge, Newton-on- Rawcliffe, near Pickering, and Jacqueline Teal (42) of Scarborough Road, Norton, Malton, are accused of attending a hare coursing event. Elizabeth Dixon (44) of Appleton- le-Street, Malton, is accused of knowingly facilitating a hare-coursing event.
Two hunt supporters from the Avon Vale hunt who stole a video camera from a female anti-hunt monitor appeared at Swindon Crown Court on 21/11/07. Malcolm Scobie (41) of Spye Park, Lacock and David Gibbons (52) of Padfield Gardens, Melksham were due to stand trial for robbery. However on the day of trial the pair admitted a lesser charge of theft, and were ordered to pay £175 each compensation to anti-hunt monitor. They also received a one-year conditional discharge.
The body in charge of Irish foxhunting is investigating claims that a fox was dug out of its den, tied up and then fed alive to hounds during a hunt in Westmeath. The Irish Masters’ of Foxhounds Association (IMFHA) confirmed on 23/11/07 that it is investigating the alleged barbaric incident which is said to have taken place during a Westmeath Hunt meet near Walderstown, Co Westmeath. According to a taped conversation with anti-hunting lobbyist Tom Hardiman, the landowner, Michael Murray, who was present during the hunt said he saw incidences of animal cruelty. ‘They tied the rope to his leg and pulled him out of the burrow and fed him straight to the dogs. They ate the fox alive. I didn’t realise that they were going to do that.’
On 25/11/07 Otis Ferry was arrested after an incident in which two women claim they were attacked. Ferry was riding with the Heythrop Hunt when he allegedly confronted two women in a car who were monitoring the hunt. Afterwards both women saw a doctor. And they claimed that their video camera and satellite navigation system had been stolen. Ferry and another man, who has not yet been arrested, allegedly went towards the women in their car to stop them filming the hunt. The other man is said to have ripped out a window and hit a woman with a CB radio antenna he had broken off the roof. She was bruised and severely shocked. Ferry allegedly grabbed a video camera from the footwell and wrestled the keys from one woman, bruising her arms and shoulder. The men rode off as the women called the police. Police arrested Ferry at his home the following day.
A photographer told West London magistrates on 28/11/07 how he and a colleague were stuck on a road for hours when Otis Ferry snatched their car’s ignition keys. They were both following actress Sienna Miller in when the incident happened. The court heard one of the photographers say the Otis Ferry (25) of Cross Houses, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, snatched and then discarded the keys. Ferry denies two charges of criminal damage. Ferry also faces charges of causing criminal damage worth £180, the cost incurred for a new set of keys, and a further £500. The case was adjourned until a later date.
On the 30/11/07 the first huntsman to be convicted of breaching the Hunting Act had his conviction overturned. Tony Wright who is the huntsman of the Exmoor Foxhounds was found guilty of hunting a wild animal with dogs after a prosecution by the League Against Cruel Sports in 2006. An Exeter Crown Court judge allowed his appeal and said he was satisfied that Wright had thought he acted to ensure he complied with the law.
Two men caught taking rabbits and trespassing appeared before Hereford magistrates on 7/12/07. Mark Adams (44) and Andrew Butts (37) both from Bargoed, Caerphilly, were each fined £45 for taking the rabbits, £225 for trespassing and were ordered to pay the court £115 in costs after they admitted the offences. The court heard they had been shooting the rabbits to feed to their pet hawks. Hereford magistrates were told how Adams and Butts were stopped by police with 19 rabbits. Three of the animals had been shot on land where the farmer had not given them permission to shoot on his land. They own four birds of prey – two sparrow hawks and two red-tailed hawks. They admitted trespassing and taking three rabbits without the landowner’s permission.
Anthony Robson (63) who was the Master of the Dunston Harriers Hunt between 1998 and 2001 stood by and watched as pupils at Banham Marshalls College, formerly the Old Rectory, fought each other and forced one child to eat his own vomit, Norwich Crown Court heard on 11/12/07. Robson was convicted of three counts of child cruelty. His brother George Robson (66) the school’s owner and head, was convicted of five counts of child cruelty two years ago. The judge sentenced Robson to 12 months in prison, 
suspended for one year.
In December 2007 Jeremy Charman, a hunt terrierman for the Crawley and Horsham hunt based in Sussex was fined £80 by police after throwing a dead rabbit at hunt monitors. Hunt monitors who were attending the hunt near Shipley, W. Sussex were followed by hunt stewards to a veteranary practice when they found a rabbit suffering from myxamatosis. In an attempt to mock this humanitarian assistance for a sick animal, Charman (left) was later videoed throwing a dead rabbit at monitors, shouting ‘Try to revive this fucker’.
Six men were given jail sentences over their involvement in one of the largest illegally organised dog-fights ever discovered in the UK. However, five of the men have been released on conditional bail pending an appeal to Birmingham Crown Court. The fight, in a kitchen showroom in Birmingham, ended with one dog dying of its injuries and the other having to be destroyed later. The District Judge ruled that five of the men could be released on bail as their trial had lasted for 15 days and involved complex legal arguments. Had they served their sentences immediately, it is possible they would have completed them by the time their appeals were heard. On 18/10/07 at Birmingham magistrates Barkat Hussain (43) of Unett Street, Smethwick, West Midlands was given six months for causing animals to fight, possessing a pit bull and causing unnecessary suffering. Intikab Hussain (31) of Sladefield Road, Ward End, Birmingham was given six months for causing animals to fight, possessing a pit bull and causing unnecessary suffering. Sohail Hussain (28) of Parkfield Road, Saltley, Birmingham was given four months for possessing a pit bull. Zahir Ahmed (31), of Bevington Road, Aston, Birmingham was given four months for possessing a pit bull. Ummar Ahmed (26) of Phipson Road, Birmingham was given six months for keeping premises for dog fighting. Zahoor Hussain (40) of Foley Road, Ward End, Birmingham was given four months for causing dogs to fight, possessing a pit bull and causing unnecessary suffering. Waqqas Mughal (18) of Unett Street, Birmingham, a youth at the time of the fight, was given a four-month detention and training order for causing dogs to fight, possessing a pit bull and causing unnecessary suffering. Barkat Hussain, Intikab Hussain, Sohail Hussain, Zahir Ahmed and Ummar Ahmed have been bailed. All the men were also convicted of attending the fight. They were all banned from owning a dog for five years and destruction orders were placed on the pit bull terriers in some of the defendants’ possession. Nineteen other men were earlier fined between £500 and £1,400 for attending the fight.
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| Waqqas Mughal | Intikab Hussain | Zahoor Hussain |
On 13/9/07 four people were arrested and five dogs seized in raids to tackle illegal dog fighting. The raids, carried out by West Midlands Police and the RSPCA, took place in the Sparkhill and Moseley areas of Birmingham in the morning. Two of the men have been arrested on suspicion of participating in dog fighting. The other two were arrested on suspicion of owning dogs banned under the terms of the 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act.
Ceri Louisa O’Neill (49) of Lower North Street, Butts has been banned from keeping dogs for three years after she sold an illegal pit bull terrier which had more than 45 wounds without seeking vet’s treatment. She was also given a four-month night-time curfew, ordered to wear an electronic tag and handed a community order when she appeared before Walsall magistrates on 14/11/07. She admitted one charge of having in her possession a pit bull terrier, at a property in Miner Street, Birchills. She admitted one charge of not taking steps to ensure the needs of an animal for which she had responsibility were met, by passing the dog untreated to someone she knew was not a veterinary surgeon while it had untreated wounds. When a pit bull expert Jane 
Robson examined Lee there was evidence of more than 45 wounds, scabs on his face, head, chest and legs. Some were four to six weeks old. Magistrates also ordered O’Neill to serve a 7pm-to-7am curfew for four months and pay £250 costs.
On 10/12/07 National Football League (NFL) star Michael Vick (left) was jailed for 23 months for his part in a US dog-fighting ring. Vick (27) pleaded guilty with three others to running an inter-state operation known as Bad Newz Kennels. He voluntarily began serving his prison term in Virginia three weeks ago. The NFL has suspended him indefinitely without pay. In his guilty plea, the quarterback admitted knowing that dogs that did not fight well were killed and that he had been involved in the killing of at least eight dogs. Vick also admitted providing money for wagers on the fights but said he never shared in any of the winnings.
Eggs/Birds
Kenneth Marshall Long (55) of Langdale Drive, Worcester, admitted intentionally taking a goldfinch from the wild and having in his possession two other wild goldfinches. At Worcester magistrates on 4/8/07 he was fined a total of £400 and ordered to pay £800 costs.
A couple from Essex who kept birds of prey in conditions described as being like “the Black Hole of Calcutta” have been given suspended jail sentences. Alan Cleave (43) and his wife Jacqueline (47) of Little Oakley, admitted a total of 17 offences of cruelty. At Colchester magistrates on 4/10/07 the couple were also banned indefinitely from keeping birds, reptiles and invertebrates. Kestrels, owls and goshawks were among the birds found by the RSPCA. They were each given two-month jail terms, suspended for a year, and ordered to pay costs of almost £6,000. Alan Cleave admitted 11 cruelty offences and was ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work. His wife admitted six cruelty charges and must complete 60 hours of unpaid work.
William White (60) was caught red-handed by SSPCA officers using “lime sticks” to catch the red linnets in fields near Humbie, East Lothian. On 9/11/07 he was fined £750 fine and banned from keeping birds for five years at his home in nearby Pencaitland. White pleaded guilty to trapping the red linnets, as well as linnets and lesser redpoles, to keep in his private aviary. He also admitted related cruelty charges at Haddington Sheriff Court. Lime sticks are covered in a non-drying glue, and stuck in the ground with seed “bait” to attract birds. When the birds fly down to feed, they are trapped by the lime sticks and cannot escape. The glue used to trap the birds is the same type of substance used to catch mice. When wild birds are removed from the sticks, they often die of shock.
A Coventry man described as Britain’s most convicted collector of wild birds’ eggs has admitted stealing again. Gregory Peter Wheal (44) of Isambard Drive, Longford, pleaded guilty to possessing raven and peregrine falcon eggs and owning collecting equipment. Wheal, who appeared before magistrates in Coventry on 27/11/07 has eight previous convictions for egg theft. He said the eggs had been hidden in his home for several years. Wheal will be sentenced on 18/12/07. Previous convictions from 2006.
Equine
Carol Ann Jennings (30) and Stephen Jennings (37) from Sutch Lane, Lathom, West Lancashire were banned from owning horses for 10 years after being found guilty of cruelty. Both caused unnecessary suffering to their two horses by not providing them with veterinary care or a balanced diet. They were sentenced at Chorley magistrates court on 3/9/07 after earlier being found guilty of cruelty in their absence. Carol Jennings was conditionally discharged for 12 months, while Stephen Jennings was ordered to carry out 80 hours community service within the next 12 months. Both were banned from owning a horse for ten years, ordered to pay £250 court costs, and confiscation order was placed on the two horses who have been signed over into the RSPCA’s care.
Assorted
An abattoir has had to pay £10,000 after leaking animal waste and cleaning fluids into a river. Milton Keynes magistrates head on 15/6/07 that Simply Halal at Forest Farm, Hanslope, polluted a ditch running alongside the site. The waste found its way into a tributary of Salcey Forest. The company was fined £6,700 and ordered to pay £3,647 Environment Agency costs after pleading guilty to causing poisonous, noxious or polluting matter to enter controlled waters.
The owner of one of London’s fur shops has been convicted of selling coats made from some of the world’s most endangered species. Michael Moosah (65) of Camden whose shop Gale Furs, in Primrose Hill was fined £1,000 after pleading guilty at City of Westminster magistrates court on 10/07/07 to trading the skins illegally. Moosah, was arrested in October last year when officers from the Metropolitan Police’s Wildlife Crime Unit swooped on his store following a tip-off. They confiscated eight coats, including ones made from a snow leopard, a eurasian lynx, tigers and ocelots. Gale Furs was fined after pleading guilty to trading the skins illegally.
Two pet shop owners found with a dead kitten and a mummified parrot in their store have were jailed for animal cruelty. Paul Mohammed (31) and James Pugh (33) both of Holmfield Road, North Shore who ran Layton Pets on Westcliffe Drive were sentenced to four months by Blackpool magistrates on 11/7/07. The men’s treatment of animals was described as appalling neglect and the pair were banned from owning a similar store in the future. The court was told that officials who inspected the store in Layton found a dead week-old kitten and the mummified body of a parrot. Mohammed and Pugh each pleaded guilty to three offences of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.
The two men accused of harassing a wild dolphin off the Kent coast have pleaded not guilty at Shepway magistrates on 21/7/07. Michael Jukes (26) of Castle Hill Avenue, Folkestone and Daniel Buck (25) of Church Road, Folkestone are charged with causing Dave the tame Dolphin which lives off Sandgate ‘alarm and distress’. Magistrates adjourned the case until 19/9/07 to allow experts to examine video evidence taken at the time.
A man who posed as a vet and dosed dogs with illegal drugs has been ordered to serve 12 months in prison. Leonard French 
(69) of Tattershall Bridge, Lincs is said to have made more than £170,000 from dog owners, companies and hunts. French admitted 20 charges involving importing and selling drugs not registered for use in the UK. He was jailed at Lincoln Crown Court on 20/8/07 after Grantham magistrates said their sentencing powers were insufficient. French admitted six counts of supplying medicines, four of attempting to import medicines, three counts of possessing unregistered medicines and another three counts of selling the medicines to members of the public. He also admitted two charges of possessing criminal property, one of administering a medicine and a further charge that he “held himself out as a practising vet or as being prepared to practise veterinary surgery without being registered”. Magistrates heard that French kept up to 120 lurcher dogs. On the 4/3/08 French was ordered to pay £246,968. He was ordered to surrender the money after being taken to court under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA). Making the POCA order at Lincoln Crown Court, when French was jailed, Judge John Machin ruled that he must pay up within nine months – or face an extra two years in prison.
Darrell Kevin Cosgrove (41) of Timberhurst, Bury, was caught selling a range of illegal stuffed animals and was handed a conditional discharge. Cosgrove appeared at Hyndburn magistrates on 7/10/07 as the sole director and shareholder of Sellitall Antiques, based in Blackburn Road, Accrington. He admitted 14 charges of possessing and selling the protected species after police raided his antiques store. Cosgrove, was originally charged along with Paul Barrett (58) of Ribble Drive, Bury but the allegations against Barrett were withdrawn. Among the haul seized by police were three tawny owls, a European eagle owl, a sparrowhawk, two buzzards, two peregrine falcons, a Eurasian owl, a red squirrel, a Scottish wildcat, a mounted otter’s head and a mounted badger’s head. Cosgrove was also ordered to pay £65 prosecution costs.
Two men kicked a hedgehog to death by using it as a football during a stag weekend. John Cathcart (38) of Golf Course Road, Skelmorlie, Ayrshire, and Gordon Devenish (41) of Fancy Farm Road, Greenock booted the helpless animal back and forth until it died. At Perth Sheriff Court on 23/11/07 Devenish was fined £400 and Cathcart was fined £360. The pair, who were caught in the act by police, admitted kicking a hedgehog with the intention of inflicting unnecessary suffering.
Nicol Wood (22) from Banff was convicted of recklessly harassing a school of dolphins while on a jet ski and was fined £500 by Banff Sheriff Court on 4/12/07.
Farm Animals (Guardians Of The Land – My Arse!!!)
A farmer from Truro has to pay over £8,000 after being found guilty of six charges of animal cruelty. At Camborne magistrates on 21/6/07 Norman Farqhuar Dalgarno of Lords Meadow, Tregony, was found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to sheep due to failure to treat severe lameness and failing to treat several sheep infested by maggots. He was fined £4,500 and ordered to pay costs of £3571.60, he was also given a 5 year ban on keeping sheep. Dalgarno has 28 days to both pay the fines and dispose of his stock.
Farmer David Spedding of Mill Cottage, Galemire, Cleator Moor transported a lame sheep to a west Cumbrian auction mart was fined £3,500. At Whitehaven magistrates on 29/6/07 he was fined £2,000 for transporting an unfit horned ewe. Spedding had pleaded guilty at an early hearing to two further charges of failing to record the ewe’s identification code or to attach a movement tag to the animal for which he was fined £1,500.
A farmer who admitted causing sheep unnecessary suffering has been banned from keeping the animals for 10 years. Dingwall Sheriff Court heard on 9/7/07 that a number of livestock were in such a poor state on land owned by James Matheson (61) from Muir of Ord that four had to be destroyed. Matheson admitted failing to feed and water 36 sheep and he also pleaded guilty to a separate charge of failing to dispose of 31 carcasses. Matheson was also fined £1,000.
A livestock owner has been placed on probation for three years after being found guilty of animal welfare offences at a farm near Ecclefechan. Leslie England (57) was convicted on three counts of failing to provide treatment or care for sheep in need of attention. He was also found guilty of failing to provide a wholesome diet to eight of the animals. England had denied all the charges against him at Dumfries Sheriff Court on 12/7/07. As well as being placed on probation, England was ordered to carry out 240 hours community service.
A farmer who went to court to overturn four convictions for animal welfare offences ended up with increased fines and legal costs of £6,000. On 27/9/07 Raymond Anthony Shepherd (52) of Retreat Farm, Guilcrux had hoped to see his conviction quashed but after a two-day hearing at Carlisle Crown Court the judge dismissed his appeal as being without merit. But dismissing the appeal the judge also increased one fine to £500 and another to £1,000, before telling Shepherd he will also have to pay £6,000 court costs. Original conviction from 2006
Two Pembrokeshire farmers who illegally moved their animals during the initial stages of the foot and mouth outbreak in 2007 have been ordered to pay a total of £1,820. Brothers David James of Langdon Mill Farm in Jeffreyston, and Hugh James of West Farm, Reynalton, Kilgetty committed the offence during a country-wide restriction on livestock movement. They appeared before Haverfordwest magistrates on 13/11/07 where they denied the charge. Magistrates found both defendants guilty following a trial. David James was fined £650 and ordered to pay costs of £300. Hugh James was fined £570 with costs of £300.
A teenager who threw a live lamb onto a fire “for a laugh” avoided a custodial sentence. Scott Douglas (17) of Dall Cottage in Balnain, Drumnadrochit was celebrating his 17th birthday when he removed the lamb from its mother in a field near Loch Ness. On 18/12/07 he was sentenced to 200 hours community service at Inverness Sheriff Court and banned from keeping animals for 10 years. Douglas admitted causing the animal unnecessary suffering.
Domestic
At Hyndburn magistrates on 18/6/07 Kady Newell (21) and Sarah Jane Yates (22) both of Shakespeare Way, Bank Top, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to omitting to act to ensure the dog’s well-being and keeping it in conditions detrimental to its well-being after it was found less than half the weight it should have been. They were each fined £125 with £250 costs and banned from keeping dogs for five years.
PC Jayson Lee (36) of Grande Route de la Côte, St Clement is accused of punching police dog Rico on the nose and squeezing its testicles, the Jersey magistrates heard on 22/6/07. Lee has reserved his plea and the case has been remanded 9/7/07.
Emma Whatmough (27) from Merthyr Tydfil was been fined for docking the tails of eight one-day-old Rottweiler puppies. Whatmough told Merthyr magistrates on 25/6/07 she did not know the practice had been outlawed when she used scissors sterilised in hot water. She was ordered to pay fines and costs totalling £815. All eight puppies and their mother later died of an unrelated illness. Magistrates decided not to disqualify her from keeping animals in future as her dogs had otherwise been well cared for!!!
John Lee Thompson (21) of Bodmin Close, Battle Hill broke into the shed of a Tyneside family to steal. But finding nothing worth taking he instead squirted two large bottles of fuel over four of the family’s pet rabbits. At North Tyneside magistrates on 4/7/07 he was sentenced to 32 weeks. Thompson pleaded guilty to cruelty as well as two burglaries and two Bail Act offences for failing to attend court for previous hearings. Thompson was jailed for 16 weeks for the cruelty charge plus four weeks each for the two Bail Act charges plus four weeks each for the two burglary charges, all to run consecutively. The second burglary charge relates to a break in at the Stephenson Railway Museum, in North Shields, last July. He was also banned for keeping animals for five years.
Lee Paul (26) of Fannymoor Lane, Lowerhouses pleaded guilty to causing the animal unnecessary suffering and cruelly ill-treating the dog and was put under 12 months supervision and ordered to pay £500 costs. He was also ordered to carry out 80 hours unpaid work, banned from keeping any animals for five years and ordered to formally transfer ownership of the Staffordshire bull terrier to the RSPCA when he appeared at Thames magistrates on 11/7/07.
A puppy farmer who illegally bred dogs in “cramped, cold and dirty” conditions has been given a suspended prison sentence and banned from keeping dogs. Peter Hughes (71) was found to have 64 dogs at his sheep farm at Halkyn, Flintshire, but a licence for only 12. Hughes admitted causing unnecessary suffering, breeding without a licence, and breaching his pet shop licence. At Mold magistrates on 12/7/07 he was sentenced to a three-month jail term that was suspended for two years and banned from owning a dog for 10 years. He was also banned from applying for a licence to breed puppies for 10 years and ordered to pay £6,000 costs.
Debbie Brown (18) of Crossway, Crewe, who allowed her pet kitten to be tortured and shot has been banned from keeping animals for 10 years. Brown is the fifth person to be sentenced in connection with the abuse, which took place at her then home in Stoke-on-Trent. The case against her was brought after the RSPCA discovered horrific mobile phone video footage of the defenceless black kitten being thrown up and down a flight of stairs by two male youths as girls shrieked with laughter in the background. Some time later, the kitten was shot in the head by an as yet unidentified 
member of the gang. At North Staffordshire magistrates on 25/7/07 Brown was given a 12-month supervision order, was ordered to carry out 200 hours of community service, and made to pay £590 towards vets’ fees and cattery costs.
Matthew Maddock (25) from Livingstone Avenue, Aigburth, stabbed and slashed his six-month-old bull mastiff after it soiled the bathroom floor. Police found the badly injured animal lying in a pool of blood. Maddock (left) admitted causing unnecessary suffering at a previous hearing. On 22/8/07 Liverpool magistrates gave him a four-month suspended sentence and ordered him to do 150 hours’ unpaid work and pay costs of £60. They also told him he could never own an animal or even have one travel in the same car as him.
A pet shop supplier who left hundreds of animals to die in filthy sheds as a “punishment” was spared jail.Alan Magraw (58) of Park Lane, Darlington fed dead rabbits to cats and left hundreds of animals to die and putrefy in filthy sheds at a North-East farm, Bishop Auckland magistrates heard on 24/8/07. In an interview with RSPCA inspectors, Magraw said he was punishing the animals “because of what others had done to him”. Magraw also admitted killing rabbits by striking them on the back of the head. Magraw pleaded guilty to six charges of causing unnecessary suffering to animals was given six concurrent jail sentences of 18 weeks, suspended for two years, and banned from keeping animals for life. He has been subjected to a one-year supervision period and an 18-week curfew, from 8pm to 8am. He was also ordered to pay legal costs of £1,527.
The husband of Rosalind Gregson who was banned from keeping animals for life has himself pleaded guilty to seven charges of animal cruelty. Alan Gregson (62) of Lindeth Road, Silverdale admitted that he had caused unnecessary suffering to a number of dogs at his home. At Lancaster magistrates on 14/9/07 he was banned from keeping animals for life, he must also pay £10,000 costs.
Nicola Collinson (21) of Parkside Avenue, Winlaton, Gateshead, who was filmed drop-kicking a kitten has been banned from keeping animals for life. Collinson kicked and punched the black and white kitten as it wandered over to her. On 22/10/07 at Gosforth magistrates they heard how she picked the cat up, threw it in the air and drop-kicked it across the road as her friend filmed the ordeal on a mobile phone. When the animal tried to escape she picked it up again and punched it repeatedly in the head. Collinson pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to an animal and admitted she was drunk at the time of the offence. She also admitted kicking the cat, but said it was not her intention to hurt it. She was given a lifetime ban from keeping animals, a six month curfew order between 7pm and 7am, a 12-month community order with a supervision order for 12 months, and ordered to pay £120 costs.
David Froggatt (43) of Caldecott Road, Higher Blackley, Manchester kept 61 cats in total squalor in his home and was been banned from keeping animals for life. Froggatt was also given a three-month suspended jail sentence and fined £5,000 by magistrates on 7/11/07. Froggatt pleaded guilty to three charges of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal. These were causing unnecessary suffering to 24 cats by failing to ensure that they were in good bodily condition; causing unnecessary suffering to 15 cats by failing to get veterinary care for ulcers to their tongues and noses; and causing unnecessary suffering to 61 cats by allowing them to live in conditions that were detrimental to them. He also pleaded guilty to an additional charge of failing to provide proper living conditions for his 61 cats.
Philip Gannon (42) of Bulrush Close, Walkden, Salford killed his estranged wife’s kitten in a tumble dryer in an `act of spite’ was jailed for six months on 13/11/07. Gannon was also banned from keeping any animal as a pet for life. He denied causing unnecessary suffering to an animal but was found guilty after a trial at Bolton magistrates. On 28/11/08 Bury County Court. Gannon has had his sentence upheld by a judge.
A Stoke-on-Trent City councillor has resigned after being convicted of animal cruelty. Paul Shotton (47) deputy leader of the Labour group and his wife Annette (45) of Smithpool Road, Fenton were convicted of causing unnecessary suffering when they appeared at North Staffordshire magistrates on 12/11/07. They were both banned from keeping dogs for two years and fined £3,000 after their 13-year-old Labrador died in their backyard while they were on holiday. The court ordered that the £3,000 was to be paid to the RSPCA.
A teenager who was filmed swinging his family cat around by its tail was caught out when his mum shopped him to the police. Karen Ridley was horrified when she discovered the sickening footage on her son Matthew’s mobile phone. She threw him out of the family home and reported him to Lancashire Police. The appalling minute-long clip, filmed by the teenager’s friend 13 year-old black and white cat, screeching in pain as the intoxicated teenager swings her by her tail. Matthew Ridley (19) of Thornfield Avenue, Ribbleton was sentenced to 250 hours’ unpaid work and ordered to pay £45 costs at Preston magistrates on 16/11/07 after pleading guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.
Kevin Hall (21) of St Ives Place, Murton, changed his plea to guilty on the day of his trial at Durham magistrates on 16/11/07, admitting a charge of causing suffering to a cat by kicking it through the air. Hall had been seen talking to two girls before kicking the nine-year-old cat, but he denied the incident in interview, telling police: ‘I know nowt about kicking a cat or nowt like that.’ The case was adjourned until 7/12/07 to allow reports to be made and Hall was released on unconditional bail.
A man has been put under a curfew order after dogs he was walking attacked a cat so viciously that it had to be put down. Peter Tansy (18) of Chelmsford Square, Hylton Castle, admitted losing control of the lurchers a “split second” before the incident. Tansy has been banned from keeping animals for two years and ordered to observe a 9pm to 7am curfew for seven days a week over the next two months. He was also ordered to pay £310 costs at Sunderland magistrates on 29/11/07 after pleading guilty to a charge of animal cruelty.
Anthony Woodhouse (49) of Seaford, East Sussex, used a home-made noose to kill a puppy he had bred was jailed for four months on 3/12/07 at Eastbourne magistrates. Woodhouse stood behind a door and pulled on a retractable dog lead, hoisting the animal on the other side into the air. He had given the six-month-old male Staffordshire bull terrier as a present to a 16-year-old boy, but the teenager’s mother said the dog could not be kept at their home. Magistrates banned Woodhouse from keeping animals for life. He had previously admitted causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.
A Merseyside man has been banned from keeping animals for five years after he beat a puppy so badly it had to be put down. The eight-week-old dog was found on the floor at a house in Wavertree with a broken spine and ribs. Daniel Irvine(19) of Stourvale Road in Halewood, pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering by subjecting it to the violent attack. He was banned him from keeping animals, and given a 12-month supervision order at Liverpool magistrates on 4/12/07. He was also order to pay £200 court costs.
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