Bloodsports
On 23/10/00 two men from Nottinghamshire were today fined for attending an illegal dog tight following an undercover investigation earlier this year. Andrew Taylor (29) of Caernarfon Grove, Sutton-in-Ashfield was fined £300 and Nigel Greensmith (32) of The Quadrangle, Newstead Village was fined £250 after they both admitted attending the fight when they appeared before Mansfield magistrates. They were also ordered to pay £150 in costs. Four other defendants, Kenneth Langan from Portslade in Sussex, Anthony Mullen from Northfield in Birmingham, Jeremy Brown from Chesterfield and Ryan Nuttall from Newstead Village have all denied various offences relating to dog fighting and causing unnecessary suffering to dogs. They are due to stand trial at Mansfield magistrates 26/1/01.
Fishing without a licence cost nine anglers a total of £685 at Hereford magistrates 18/12/00. The men pleaded guilty and magistrates ordered them to each pay £40 costs. Christopher Blunt of Cleeve Orchard, Holmer, Hereford and Darren Davies-Jones of Dymond Close, Hampton Park, Hereford were each fined £40 for illegally fishing at Rotherwas Pool, Hereford. Blunt’s rod and line were forfeited. Christopher Graham Clarke and Kerry Clarke of Thelwell Cottage, Welsh Newton, Monmouth. were each fined £50 and their rods and line were forfeited. Keith William Guest of Walternash Road, Birchen Coppice, Kidderminster, Worcester, was fined £60. Neil Gullis of Lowfield Meadow, Kington, Hereford was fined £95. Kelvin John Hatcher of Elm Cottage, Uphill, Weston-Super-Mare was fined £60 for fishing without a licence. Paul Jones of Chartist Way, Blackwood was fined £100 for the same offence. Jones’ rod and line were also forfeited. Christopher Richard Lewis of Beech Grove, Victoria Avenue, Ebbw Vale was fined £95 and had his rod and line forfeited after he admitted fishing without a licence.
Two anglers were given conditional discharges for twelve months after they admitted fishing without licences. They were each ordered to pay £40 costs. Adrian Cox of Elm Grove, Clehonger, Hereford and Wayne Simon Milner of Cherry Brook Close, Hope-under-Dinmore, Leominster.
An angler caught fishing without a licence near Devizes failed to respond to a summons and was fined £300 after local magistrates found him guilty in his absence. Andrew Collins of Kings Lane, Harwell, Oxfordshire was caught fishing without a licence and Devizes magistrates meted out the hefty fine on 11/12/00 after they heard that Collins failed to respond to a summons for the offence. He was also ordered to pay £55 costs.
A group of four men found netting salmon beneath the Wye Bridge at Monmouth were fined a total of £800 at Monmouth magistrates 19/12/00. Clinton Stephen Edwards of Woodland View, Wyesham; Phillip John Oates of Granville Street, Monmouth; Christian Bradbury of Wyesham Avenue, Wyesham, and Luke John Short of Carbonne Close, Monmouth all pleaded guilty to taking salmon using a fixed net. They also pleaded guilty to placing and using a fixed engine, namely a net and to taking salmon from water where there is a private right of fishery. Edwards was fined £250, Oates and Short £200 each and Bradbury £150. In addition to their fine, each man was also ordered to pay £100 costs.
A gamekeeper was cleared of killing a golden eagle on 20/12/00 after prosecutors dropped the case. David Campbell had been accused of using illegal poison to lace a red grouse as bait for birds of prey. But the fiscal dropped the charge at Perth Sheriff Court, saying a key witness in the case lacked credibility. Following an investigation into the death of the golden eagle and a buzzard on West Glenalmond Estate in Perthshire it was discovered that the eagle had been poisoned with the outlawed pesticide Yaltox. The buzzard was found dead next to a grouse which had been set up with poison to act as bait for birds of prey.
On 9/1/01 Police and RSPCA officials investigating illegal dog fighting arrested a man and seized a weapon after swooping on four Birmingham addresses. The officers also took possession of a pit bull-type dog which was being examined by a vet to establish it’s exact breed. The raids took place in the Lozells area. A police spokesman said a man was arrested as part of an on-going investigation “into illegal dog fighting involving illegal dangerous dogs.” The move comes after a 19-year-old was arrested in Birmingham, on 19/12/00, and a dog confirmed as a pit bull terrier was seized. The RSPCA said warrants were issued for the arrests of five men following an incident in Lozells.
This is the man suspected of hoarding one of the biggest collections of illegal eggs ever seen in
the North East. A massive haul of 1,487 rare and valuable birds eggs was seized by police after a lengthy undercover operation lasting several months. Officers raided a house in Blyth, Northumberland, and recovered the eggs – many from birds on the verge of extinction. Barry Sheavils (40) of Ogle Drive, Blyth, has been charged with a string of offences under the Wildlife and Countryside Act which came into force in 1981 to protect Britain’s dwindling bird life. But Sheavils did not attend when his case was called before magistrates at Bedlington on 21/11/00. His solicitor successfully applied in his absence for an adjournment to January 2001 for a pre-trail review. Sheavils is accused of 12 offences of taking and possessing wild birds eggs and under current legislation he could face fines of up to £1,000 per egg and up to £5,000 for the most rare Schedule One eggs if convicted. Included in the collection, which appears to have been built up over a number of years, were eggs from the rare black-neck grebe, the red-throated diver, the peregrine falcon and the chuff. This bastard has other convictions for stealing eggs.
An unemployed father of four was fined £1000 at Dornoch sheriff court on 20/12/00. Mark Dawson from Carlisle, pleaded guilty to being in possession of two black-throated diver eggs taken from a nest in the north of Sutherland in breach of the wildlife and countryside act.
Equine
A man who hacked a horse to death with an axe because a neighbour complained it had been eating too much grass has been sentenced to three months in prison. Gregory Martin from Ballina, Ireland was convicted for what the judge called “absolute, wanton cruelty”. Martin told the court he believed he had the right to kill the mare because “the Bible says man has dominion over animals”. Martin argued he was competent to cut up the animal because of his experience in an abattoir and pleaded not guilty. Martin was fined £365 and directed to receive appropriate medical attention.
A woman from Carmathenshire who allowed two horses to starve to death escaped a fine when a court ruled she had no means of paying. Anne Kasica (46) of Felindre, Llandysul was convicted of 12 cruelty charges on horses in her care by magistrates. But she immediately lodged an appeal against the convictions and fines of £17,200. This meant that the RSPCA, who had seized all 12 horses, was unable to find new homes for them until after the appeal. However, Kasica withdrew her appeal at Swansea Crown Court on 24/10/00. RSPCA officers found the 12 emaciated horses in boggy fields near Llandysul and took them into care but two later died. Magistrates in the original case at Carmarthen ordered Kasica to pay £600 for each offence and costs of £10,000 a total of £17,200. But after withdrawing from an appeal hearing Kasica was told she would have no fines to pay because she had no way of paying them. The 10 horses that have been in care are now fit and healthy. A 10-year ban on keeping horses, which was imposed on Kasica by the magistrates, still stands.
A starving horse left tethered to a chain in baking heat had to have the soles of its feet removed to give it any chance of survival Derwentside magistrates heard on 6/11/00. The mare, owned by Steven Wilkinson (21) of Peartree Terrace, Chopwell, near Gateshead was shockingly emaciated, riddled with worms and was so thirsty when rescued that it drunk 33 gallons of water in one day. The mare was just skin on bones and was covered in cuts and open sores. Wilkinson denied causing unnecessary suffering but was convicted by magistrates, who ordered ownership to be transferred to the BHS. Wilkinson was given a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £150 court costs.
Assorted
A Dorset farmer has been ordered to pay £1,500 in fines and costs for failing to comply with regulations brought in to contain the BSE crisis. Robert Swanton (46) of Guy’s Marsh Farm, Shaftesbury, admitted 18 offences and asked for 39 other charges to he considered. On 21/9/00 Wimborne magistrates fined him £50 each for 17 offences and £100 for making the false trade description and was ordered to pay £550 towards prosecution costs.
Mark Gathercole (36) of Flybarn Farm, Stow Bedon, near Watton was jailed on 9/10/00 for 12 weeks after he pleaded guilty to 20 charges of animal cruelty and running an illegal slaughterhouse. Thetford magistrates heard that the farmer slit animals throats without prior stunning and then passed the meat off as Muslim ‘halal’. Gathercole pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering, transporting an animal in a manner likely to cause suffering, slaughtering without appropriate knowledge and skill, acting as an unlicensed slaughterman and failing to dispose of animal by-products. The raid followed a tip-off from Hillside Animal Sanctuary. 150 sheep were found on the premises.
A farmer paid more than £105,000 in falsely-claimed subsidies, such as fields on references that put them in the Atlantic between Iceland and Greenland, was jailed for 30 months 0n 11/10/00. Joseph Bowden (46) of Heanton, Devon, claimed grants totalling more than £150,000 from the Government and the EU in schemes not detected for almost three years, Exeter Crown Court was told. Bowden admitted four charges of deception, an attempted deception, and four cases of false accounting.
A taxidermist who illegally sold a “sickening” array of stuffed animals such as tigers, leopards, chimpanzees and wolves faces jail after the biggest prosecution of its kind in Britain. Robert Sclare, who called his shop Get Stuffed in Essex Road, Islington, north London, packed it with endangered species including a tiger and her young litter and a leopard that had been stillborn at a British zoo. Also found at the shop, were a gorilla’s skull, an elephant foot fashioned into a table and rare birds such as vultures, sparrow hawks and snowy owls. A spur thighed tortoise and a loggerhead turtle were also seized. He pleaded guilty to 29 counts of forgery relating to applications to obtain permits to trade in the animals when he appeared at Snaresbrook Crown Court. On 13/10/00 he also admitted 12 counts of illegally displaying the animals for a commercial purpose. Sclare is due to be sentenced on 3/11/00.
A butcher and his girlfriend from east London are to appear in court on Thursday charged with selling meat from a rare monkey and other rare animals. Mobolji Osakuade (39) who has premises in Ridley Rd market, Dalston, and Rose Kinnanne (34) face 12 charges in connection with illegally smuggling a tantalus monkey and other wild animals into Britain from West Africa. They are also accused of importing a pangolin (a species of ant eater), 13 lizard skins, and a number of python skins. The couple will appear at the City of London magistrates on 26/10/00.
On 2/11/00 Preston magistrates dismissed charges of cruelty on a technicality concerning the method that the information was obtained. Fur farmer Tim Proffitt of Bourne End, Billsborrow, Lancashire was accused of five charges relating to unnecessary suffering and not carrying out his duty on checking animals/taking action to prevent suffering.
Millionaire racehorse trainer Henry Cecil (57) of Newmarket was fined £3000 and banned from the road for five years on 2/11/00 after being convicted of drink-driving and ordered to pay costs of £69. Ely magistrates heard how Ceil struck to elderly pedestrians and how his is his second conviction for drink-driving after being found guilty of another similar offence in 1991.
A taxidermist whose shop was “an animal house of horrors” filled with the world’s most endangered species was jailed for six months on 1/12/00. Robert Sclare (52) of Southgate, north London conviction followed the largest prosecution of its kind by the wildlife crime unit of the Metropolitan police, after a two-year investigation involving the Worldwide Fund for Nature and other welfare groups. The shop, Get Stuffed, in Islington, London, displayed two sibling tiger cubs less than a week old mounted on a branch. It still sells stuffed cats and dogs and examples of unprotected British wildlife. At Snaresbrook Crown Court Sclare admitted 41 charges involving forging documents to get Department of the Environment permits to buy and sell stuffed examples of protected species and illegally buying and selling the animals. As well as the tiger cubs, the shop displayed a range of animals most at risk of extinction including a fully grown tiger, a cheetah, a black panther, a green turtle, an elephant’s foot and tusk, a leopard’s head, a giant ant eater and the skull of a mountain gorilla.
A US man has admitted making and selling videos of women in high heels crushing small animals to death. Thomas Capriola pleaded guilty to animal cruelty and possession of marijuana at Suffolk District Court on 6/12/00. Capriola (30) from Long Island, New York, was arrested after a former girlfriend told that he was making videos of women in high heels crushing mice, rats, guinea pigs, lizards and turtles to death. Capriola sold the tapes over the internet and in foot fetish magazines. In some of the tapes, he dressed like a woman and crushed the animals himself. A judge sentenced him to 60 days in jail or 280 hours of community service, and three years probation.
An American DJ is to go on trial charged with animal cruelty after he joked about a live chicken being dropped from a balcony. The 32-year-old is scheduled to go on trial on 18/12/00 after allegedly getting an intern at the Denver radio station KBPI-FM to drop the chicken. He then told his audience spring would come early if the bird survived the fall. In attempt to get the case dropped the DJ’s lawyer claims that his client was not allowed access to the bird which has leg injuries. However, a Denver County judge has refused to dismiss the case and has also ruled that an e-mail the DJ sent to an upset listener could be used as evidence against him. If he is convicted he faces up to 18 months in jail and a $5,000 fine (just over £3,431).
Five men who were part of a nationwide fraud involving the sale of condemned poultry for human consumption were jailed yesterday. The men sold hundreds of tonnes of heavily disguised turkey and chicken meat which should have been used for pet food to butchers, market traders, restaurants and supermarkets across the UK. At Hull Crown Court on 21/12/00 on three of the five were found guilty of conspiracy to defraud businesses by selling poultry not fit for human consumption. They were Andrew Boid (33) of Carlton in Lindrick, near Worksop, Nottinghamshire, Darren Bibby (29) of Oldcotes, near Worksop and Peter Tantram (47) of Ingham, Lincolnshire. On 22/12/00 Boid was jailed for seven years, Bibby for three years and Tantram for six years. Arnold Smith (63) of Sheffield, and John McGinty (48) of Woodsetts, near Rotherham, South Yorkshire, admitted the conspiracy before the trial began. Smith was jailed for three years and nine months and McGinty was sentenced to five years. Boid and Tantram were also found guilty of conspiracy to sell pet food grade meat falsely represented as human food quality. Both were sentenced to 12 months to run consecutively.
Magistrates in St Helens fined a Cheshire company £5,000 for allowing abattoir waste to enter a stream at Burtonwood, near Warrington. Transorganics Limited of Moss Lane, Macclesfield, was also ordered to pay £2,579.17 costs on 9/1/01 after pleading guilty to causing bloody waste such as blood and gut content from abattoirs to enter the watercourse. The company has 17 previous convictions for similar offences between 1985 and 2000, the most recent of which are: 23/11/00 convicted at Northwich magistrates for causing polluting matter to enter controlled waters. Fined £5,000 and ordered to pay costs of £806. 15/5/00 fined £12,000 at Cullompton magistrates, near Exeter, and ordered to pay £7,313.76 costs for three charges relating to the deposit of controlled waste on fields.
Farm Animals
On 12/10/00 a Carmarthenshire farmer was jailed for a year after a sickening catalogue of cruelty was discovered at his farm. Llanelli magistrates also banned Arwel Jones Clement (50) of Penlan Farm, Hendy from keeping animals for life after hearing the case against him. Clement had pleaded guilty to 27 separate animal welfare charges at an earlier hearing. Inspectors found the carcass of a six-month old calf lying in muck in a shed passage. It had been castrated using a rubber ring strictly against MAFF rules. A post mortem examination found the animal had suffered chronic under-feeding and had a worm infestation. The animals had diseases such as chronic pneumonia, diarrhoea and ring worm.
A Highland sheep dealer was jailed for cruelty to more than 1,100 animals. Colin MacLennan (20) of 5 Tomich, Beauly, was sentenced at Dingwall Sheriff Court on 21/10/00. He will serve three months’ imprisonment, having admitted a string of cruelty-to-animals offences. He was also banned from keeping sheep for 10 years and fined £1,150. More than 400 animals had to be destroyed after shocked SSPCA inspectors found scores of animals starving and collapsed at various sites in the Highlands. MacLennan had taken advantage of an unprecedented slump in the market to acquire thousands of lambs and ewes from markets throughout the Highlands and Islands. He lacked the experience to deal with the animals, with the result that many were left to suffer. The court heard of one particularly harrowing scene in which 30 sheep carcases were found lying unburied. A number of ewes and lambs had eye infections, were lame and covered in sores and parasites, and others were starving and in a state of collapse. A total of 462 were destroyed. MacLennan pled guilty to 17 out of 30 charges. Most of the charges involved causing sheep unnecessary pain, distress and suffering by failing to provide prompt veterinary treatment or failing to provide adequate food or grazing.
A farmer has been jailed for eight months for a string of animal cruelty offences. John Herbert Buckingham (52) of Furze Barn Farm, Warkleigh, near Umberleigh, was convicted in his absence of 15 offences including failing to bury carcasses, causing animals unnecessary suffering and distress, and breaching a 10-year ban from keeping farm animals. The ban was imposed by magistrates when magistrates also gave Buckingham a suspended six-month prison sentence. But at Barnstaple magistrates on 31/10/00 Buckingham again faced magistrates for sentence and was jailed for a total of eight months. The court was shown video evidence showing a number of sheep in poor and emaciated condition on Buckingham’s land and sheep bones and carcasses strewn across a field. One sheep carcass was found in the cab of a lorry on Buckingham’s land.
A farmer who was jailed for eight months for a string of animal cruelty offences has had his sentence halved by an appeal court. On 4/1/01 Exeter Crown Court halved the sentence on John Buckingham (52) of Furze Barn Farm, Warkleigh, near Umberleigh, “with very great reluctance” because the farmer had lost his livelihood after being jailed. He said Buckingham had flagrantly breached court orders and, had it been in his power, he would have doubled the farmer’s ban on keeping animals to 20 years. Buckingham was jailed at Barnstaple magistrates in October (see above) after being convicted in his absence of 15 offences including failing to bury carcasses and causing animals unnecessary suffering and distress. He was also convicted in his absence of breaching a court order banning him from keeping animals for 10 years, imposed by magistrates in November 1999. Buckingham had been convicted on 26 offences of cruelty, unburied carcasses and inadequate diet in November 1999. He was banned from keeping farm animals for 10 years and given a suspended six-months prison sentence. But Buckingham ignored the ban and continued to keep animals in unsatisfactory conditions. He was brought before magistrates again in October 2000 for 15 offences including cruelty and breaching the earlier ban, and jailed for eight months.
EVERETT, USA A chicken farmer whose operation was criticized by animal-rights groups has pleaded guilty to one count of cruelty to animals and must pay a $500 fine. Keith Amberson (52) of Lake Stevens, was sentenced on 11/12/00 by Everett District Court. He must also perform 200 hours of community service and will not be able to keep farm animals for two years. Animal-rights activists have raided Amberson’s 20-acre farm east of Everett twice in the past two years to rescue chickens they said were dying from lack of food and water. After the most recent raid in March 2000, sheriff’s deputies said they found about 1,000 dead chickens in a rat-infested chicken house, along with inoperable feeding and watering systems.
Farmer Stephen Reginald Hill of Cape Farm, East Bridgford was fined £400 with £100 costs for cruelty. Hill pleaded guilty to charges of failing to dispose of three dead sheep, and causing unnecessary pain to three other sheep. Newark magistrates heard on 4/1/01 he had not been aware of the sheep carcasses.
A teenager has been banned from keeping animals for 12 months for his part in the brutal torture and killing of a piglet. The 16-year-old from Shaftesbury, Dorset, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was also ordered to carry out a16-hour reparation order and ordered to pay £100 costs and £10 compensation by magistrates sitting at Salisbury Youth court on 8/1/01. The youth was convicted at an earlier hearing of causing unnecessary suffering to the piglet on a farm at Tisbury, Wilts. The two-month-old animal was chased around a field before being beaten to death with rocks, a metal bar and a wooden stake, the court heard. Three other youths from Wiltshire and Dorset, aged 14, 15 and 16, pleaded guilty to the same offence at an earlier hearing. All three were banned from keeping animals for one year, ordered to pay compensation to the farmer and given supervision and referral orders.
Domestic
A couple have been fined £2,500 after they left their dog to roast to death in a hot caravan. Dover magistrates were told on 26/1/00 that GP Janice Woodrow and her husband Graham both from Aberford Road, Stanley, Wakefield were on holiday when their dog died. The pair admitted causing unnecessary suffering to the dog.
A couple who set up and ran a rescue centre for unwanted rabbits and guinea pigs have been convicted of animal cruelty offences. Alan (48) and Lynda Vernon (42) of Lytham Road, Blackburn have been banned for life from keeping any animals after Blackburn magistrates heard of the gruesome discovery made by RSPCA inspectors who visited their home in. In a variety of filthy hutches the officers discovered the bodies of 17 rabbits and 12 guinea pigs in various stages of decomposition. There were two rabbits and two guinea pigs still living in the squalor and without food or water. They each pleaded guilty on 1/8/00 to 10 offences of causing unnecessary suffering by omitting to act. As well as the life ban, they were each fined £250 and ordered to pay £350 prosecution costs to the RSPCA. They were given a formal seven days to pay in full after Alan Vernon said he would come to court the following day and pay the total of £1,200.
A father and son have been banned from keeping any animals for 10 years after pleading guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to their pets. Harry Riley (71) and Alan Riley (48) of Derby Street, Accrington were also sentenced to 12 months probation and ordered to each pay £50 costs for the “gross neglect” of their cross breed terrier Zak and cross breed dog Misty. The dogs, who were 10 years old, had to be put down because their condition was so poor Hyndburn magistrates heard on 15/9/00. The court heard that Misty, a black female, had an untreated tumour on her stomach, was suffering hair loss to most of her back and had overgrown claws. A vet believed she had suffered for at least three months. Zak was suffering hair loss to nearly all his body, his skin was itchy and red with infection and his claws were overgrown. His mouth was diseased with infected gums.
A man accused of strangling a two month old kitten to death appeared at Stratford magistrates 0n 11/10/00. Michael Muggleton (42) of Woodgrange Road, Forest Gate, is charged with causing unnecessary suffering to the kitten at his address. He also face a criminal damage charge for the incident and two counts of common assault on Larisa Muggleton. He was remanded on conditional bail to appear on 27/10/00.
A woman has been banned from owning a pet for two years after leaving her kitten’s severe injuries untreated for nearly three weeks. The 15-weeks-old kitten suffered horrific injuries to his hind leg, mouth and eyes. On 17/10/00 Nottingham magistrates were told his owner Leainn Beresford (20) of Quarry Avenue, Bulwell, failed to take the kitten to a vet immediately. The court heard the tiny kitten may have been struck with a heavy object or dropped from a great height possibly by the woman’s violent ex-boyfriend. The neglect has left the pet permanently blind in one eye, partially blind in the other eye and walking with a limp. Beresford pleaded guilty yesterday to neglect and omitting to provide the kitten with veterinary treatment. Beresford was fined £100 and ordered to pay £50 costs.
A man has been jailed for three months and banned from keeping pets for 30 years after leaving his four dogs to starve in terrible conditions. When police broke into a house in Aspley they found one of the dogs had died after being attacked by the other three. Ronald Perkins (51) of Bulwell, Nottingham, admitted four charges of animal cruelty. He was jailed at Nottingham magistrates on 18/10/00 for three months for each offence, to run concurrently.
A 20-year ban on having custody of animals was imposed on a Cambridgeshire man after he was found guilty of subjecting nine greyhounds to unnecessary suffering. They were found in outdoor building at Nigel Day’s (44) home in Elm, near Wisbech. Some pens had water, while others had food bowls containing bits of white bread or old pieces of bone. There was no dog food. The animals were underweight with rotting teeth, parasitic infections, pressure sores from lying on soiled bedding and puncture wounds, possibly from fighting. Two dogs were particularly unwell. One was lame, bruised with bleeding wounds and the other had several unattended wounds, inflamed skin and gums and an ingrown flea collar. Wisbech magistrates found Day guilty on all nine counts of causing unnecessary suffering. Day was also ordered to pay £1,000 towards costs and carry out 180 hours community service. All nine dogs have been successfully rehomed.
On 10/11/00 a former vet who was prosecuted for cruelty by the RSPCA has today been ordered to carry out 100 hours community service after she was convicted of breaching a ban disqualifying her from keeping animals for the second time. Dr Helen Hein (72) of Amberwell Kennels, Newlands Corner, Guildford, was banned from keeping and breeding dogs for seven years on March 19th 1996, after admitting eight charges of causing unnecessary suffering and another of breeding and selling dogs without a licence. Today magistrates imposed a 100-hour community service order and ordered Hein to pay £250 in costs after she pleaded guilty at Guildford magistrates to two counts of breaching the ban imposed four years ago. In-breeding had caused hideous deformities among the dogs. Some had no eyes or stumps instead of legs, leaving one dog to drag itself around the room. Others had cuts and sores and were running wild in packs. Every room in the property, where Dr Rein illegally bred the animals for sale, was caked in excrement and over-run by dogs. Puppies were found in and under the bath with food scattered among faeces on the floor The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons struck off Dr Rein in November 1996, following her conviction. In September 1997 she was convicted on three counts of breaching the disqualification order on keeping dogs imposed in March 1996 and given a two-yea conditional discharge.
A man has who used a puppy like a football has been jailed for the savage attack. Burnley magistrates were told on 17/11/00 how the tiny cross bred was violently abused by Christoper Ian O’Leary (26) of Cleveland Street, Colne who had owned it for just a week. Neighbours alerted police after they heard the animal screaming and yelping and saw the defendant attacking it in his back yard. O’Leary said to have learning difficulties, was jailed three months. The defendant admitted causing unnecessary suffering. He was also banned from keeping animals for 10 years. The vet concluded the dog died of internal bleeding, had gone through suffering beyond belief.
Lee and Jeannette Ripley from in Rowntree Avenue, Clifton, York went on honeymoon leaving a menagerie of exotic pets behind. A tarantula died and a Mexican red knee spider and Chilean rose spider were discovered in containers with no controlled heating or humidity levels. A bearded dragon lizard was so weak from starvation that it could not eat crickets that had been left in its cage. The animals were among four cats, a dog, three rodents, a canary and four chinchillas left without proper food or water for nine days at the couple’s home. The Ripley’s pleaded guilty to ten charges of causing unnecessary suffering to animals at York magistrates on 17/11/00. They were banned for life from keeping animals, and ordered to pay £2,040 costs.
A man has who used a puppy like a football has been jailed for the savage attack. Burnley magistrates were told on 17/11/00 how the puppy was violently abused by Christoper Ian O’Leary (26) of Cleveland Street, Colne who had owned it for just a week. O’Leary was jailed three months after admitting causing unnecessary suffering. He was also banned from keeping animals for 10 years. A vet concluded the dog died of internal bleeding and had gone through suffering beyond belief.
Gareth Edward Robins (23) from Chadderton was jailed 0n 21/11/00 for two months for slashing a puppy’s throat. But he walked free from court on bail pending an appeal hearing. The court heard how who was also banned from owning an animal for 10 years, had delayed getting treatment for the eight-month-old cross-bred dog for nearly two hours. He was convicted of cutting the animal’s throat, exposing its jugular vein and wind pipe. The dog needed 40 stitches in a life-saving operation. Robins, who has now moved to Prestwich, admitted that he did not tell the vet that the dog belonged to him because he could not afford to pay for the treatment. Appeal 4/10/01.
Thomas Jefferson (39) of Dyer Square, Southwick was banned from keeping animals for life after his dog was found near death. Sunderland magistrates heard on 29/11/00 the Lurcher was half its normal weight when RSPCA officers called at his home. Jefferson admitted causing unnecessary suffering. He was given a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £400 costs.
A man who was found with two dogs, two ferrets and a dead hamster in his home, in defiance of a life ban against keeping animals, was warned on 7/12/00 he could face a jail sentence. Christopher Neill (38) of Callendar, Ouston, Chester-le-Street, was banned by magistrates for keeping animals for life after being found guilty of cruelty charges three years ago. But Derwentside magistrates heard that Neill was keeping animals at home in filthy conditions. Neill, who denied seven charges of causing unnecessary suffering to animals and breaching a previous court order, claimed a man left the animals in his care for one day while he was moving house. After hearing how he was unable to name the man in question, magistrates found him guilty of all seven charges and adjourned sentencing for reports until 3/1/01.
A man who hurled a kitten against a wall in a drunken temper has been banned for life from owning animals. Shaun Mortimer (22) from York later heartlessly dumped the dead animal in the garden, Hull magistrates heard on 8/12/00. A vet discovered the kitten had a broken neck and many internal bruises and bleeding. Mortimer was put on probation for 18 months and ordered to pay £75 costs after admitting cruelty to the kitten.
A man who drowned nine puppies was banned for life on 21/12/00 from keeping any animal. Matthew Douglas (27) of Cringle Court, Redcar told RSPCA officers that he thought the puppies would die from shock in the cold water. Douglas pleaded guilty at Teesside magistrates to causing unnecessary suffering to them. He was ordered to do 100 hours community service, and put on probation for 12 months. He was also ordered to pay £150 costs.
An A-level student was sentenced to four-months in jail after he sprayed a family pet with lighter fuel, causing it to burst into flames. Alan Moxon (19) of The Meadows, Sutton, Hull was observed as he sprayed the flammable liquid on to his friend’s 14-year-old red setter bitch. On 22/12/00 Hull magistrates heard how the dog suffered burns to its head, legs, tail and eye. It’s injuries were so severe it had to be put to sleep 11 days later. Haulage contractor’s son Moxon pleaded guilty to a single charge of ill treatment of the red setter bitch. He was subjected to hate mail and threats against his life after the details of the case were made public. Moxon was also banned from keeping a dog for life.
When an RSPCA inspector discovered an ill-treated dog she was so touched by the plight of the animal she decided to give it a home herself. It’s previous owner, an unemployed man from North Yorkshire, was banned from having custody of any animal for five years after admitting causing unnecessary suffering to the white German shepherd dog. Selby magistrates heard how Kenneth Webb (48) of Cliffe, near Selby, locked the two-year-old dog in a concrete porch area, measuring six feet long and two feet wide. She was starved of food, water and affection, and forced to lie in her own excrement. The court heard how the dog was put on a drip before having a blood transfusion and anabolic steroids. She was under half the normal weight for a German Shepherd of her age, but after six weeks of medication and correct diet she has almost fully recovered. Webb was sentenced to 100 hours community service, put on 12 months probation, ordered to pay costs of £850 and given seven days to rehome his other dog which has since been rehomed.
On 4/1/01 a US teenager who cut out a dog’s eyes has been given an indefinite custodial sentence. The boy from Yerington, Nevada, has been told to undergo counselling and to write a letter of apology to the Labrador’s owners. The dog had to be put down after being found roaming the streets of the small town.
Christopher Neill (38) of Callendar, Ouston, Chester-le-Street is starting a jail sentence after a court heard how maltreated dogs, ferrets and a hamster were found in his home. Neill kept the pets in defiance of a lifetime ban imposed after a previous court appearance for cruelty to animals. Neill was sentenced to six months in jail by the Chester-le-Street magistrates on 3/1/01, after being found guilty. Neil had denied five charges of causing unnecessary suffering to animals. As well as the six-month sentence Neill was told the lifetime ban would remain in force on completion of the jail term. Three years ago Neill was given a year-long probation order and banned for life from keeping animals for causing unnecessary suffering to two dogs and a rabbit.
A dog owner who battered his pet over the head with a claw hammer has been jailed for eight weeks. John Maher (41) of Keresley, Coventry, bludgeoned the Staffordshire Bull Terrier with the hammer after returning home from the pub. Coventry magistrates were told on 8/1/01 how neighbours called the police after hearing the dog’s cries. The animal, which survived the attack, has now been rehoused. Maher admitted causing unnecessary suffering to the animal at an earlier hearing. Magistrates also banned him for life from keeping animals and ordered him to pay £250 court costs. The court was told Maher came home from the pub and was playfully bitten by the dog. He retaliated by picking up a claw hammer and smashing the dog’s skull at least three times.
Ian Knight (21) of Middlewood Avenue, St Helen Auckland, County Durham has been jailed for beating his pet puppy to death after it soiled his carpet. He was sent to prison for four months and banned from keeping animals for 10 years on 8/1/01 by Bishop Auckland magistrates after admitting the attack on his eight-month-old pet.
A kitten was left in agony after its owners wired its jaws up with the tag from a freezer bag in a botched attempt at DIY surgery. Anthony Dannatt (22) and Christina Warcup (18) both of Grange Road, Darlington claimed they were only trying to help their three-month-old kitten after it broke its jaw, Bishop Auckland magistrates heard on 8/1/01. Dannatt and Warcup both admitted causing the injury and each was ordered to pay £150 legal costs and banned from owning an animal for five years. The kitten underwent two operations, has now made a full recovery and been given a new home.
A woman who ripped the wings off her son’s budgie in a drunken rage has been banned from keeping another animal for life. Christine Lawson (45) of Granville Road, Middlesbrough savaged her son’s pet in front of him and two policemen. Then she crushed the green bird in her hand and flung it on to the floor. One of the officers had to put it out of its agony Teesside magistrates heard on 12/1/01. The RSPCA found every bone in its body was broken. Lawson admitted cruelty and was put on probation for 12 months and ordered to pay £100 costs.
A man who mailed his ex-girlfriend a package with her dog’s paws and ear in, has been jailed for three months. Yves Fournier confessed to police that he strangled her dog and sent the woman a package containing its front paws and an ear. A French court also ordered the man to pay £1,000 to his former girlfriend and £300 to the Society for the Protection of Animals, a civil party to the suit. He was found guilty on charges of cruelty to domestic animals and making death threats, authorities say.
NORTH WEST HUNT SABOTEURS 