Author: Jasmine Kleine

New research from PDSA has revealed that 4.4 million pets are unneutered, leaving them in danger of life-threatening illnesses.

Vet charity PDSA today warned many much-loved family pets’ lives are at risk, as nearly 3 million dogs, 770,000 cats and 720,000 rabbits* are unneutered, leaving them susceptible to various dangerous conditions such as womb infections and cancers.

To coincide with World Spay Day (28 February) the charity’s vets are urging owners to get their pets neutered – a potentially life-saving, simple procedure that can help pets live longer, healthier lives.

Facts About Spaying And Neutering

The PDSA Animal Wellbeing (PAW) Report**, produced in conjunction with YouGov, has revealed why pets aren’t being neutered. The main reason given by owners was ‘Haven’t thought about it’ (22 per cent), followed by ‘Don’t believe in it’ (16 per cent) and ‘Not got round to it’ (14 per cent).

PDSA Vet Rebecca Ashman, said: “Sadly, vet practices across the UK see the devastating consequences of leaving pets unneutered all too often. Many cancers can be prevented by neutering, as can horrendous life-threatening conditions such as womb infections.

“As well as avoiding unwanted litters, neutering can have many health benefits for your pet. It’s best not to delay – health problems in unneutered pets are more likely as they get older. We all love our pets, so it’s important to prevent potential problems arising when we can. I’d highly recommend owners speak to their vet to avoid future heartache.”

Pet neutering levels vary considerably across the UK, with the North East seeing the highest levels of unneutered pets – 1 in 4 pets (26 per cent) – compared to 16 per cent of pets in the South East.

Regional variances of unneutered pets:

Myths and misconceptions may also be partly to blame for some owners choosing against neutering their pets, as Rebecca explains:

“As a vet, I’ve heard many reasons why people are reluctant to have their pets neutered, ranging from worrying it will emasculate their pets, to concern about denying a pet’s parental rights. The reality is that animals don’t experience emotions in the same way we do. There’s no evidence to suggest there is an emotional cost to animals when they don’t have a litter. If owners have concerns about their pet having an anaesthetic and surgery, their vet or vet nurse will be able to put their minds at rest.

“There is also a fear that neutering will change your pet’s personality. Again, this a common misconception: neutering can reduce testosterone-fuelled behaviours – such as aggression – but this is not the same as changing their nature, which is shaped by genetics and life experiences. If owners have any questions, I’d always recommend they speak to their vet, who can give them specific advice for their pet and address any concerns.”

For all pet owners, regardless of species, unplanned pregnancies can be stressful and expensive, especially if there are complications, according to PDSA. It can be very difficult to find loving new homes for any offspring. As a result, many pets end up in rehoming and rescue centres.

For more advice from PDSA vets about neutering, visit www.pdsa.org.uk/neutering

Cyril the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel needed the help of vets after his owner realised something was wrong when their beloved pet stopped eating and started vomiting. Worried owner Lesley Mellor (40) rushed him in to Plymouth PDSA Pet Hospital, where x-rays revealed the cause of poor Cyril’s plight.

The nine-year-old Cyril had somehow managed to get his paws on a ‘Clarabel’ toy – the famous character from Thomas the Tank Engine at the family home in Torpoint.

He was taken straight to the operating theatre, where PDSA vet David Jones carried out the life-saving surgery.

David said: “Whenever a dog swallows a foreign object, there is a very real risk of a blockage in the intestines, which could be fatal. So once we’d x-rayed Cyril we took him straight into theatre to operate. Surgery like this is very risky, because you never know what you might find, or what damage the object might have caused.”

Once the toy train carriage was removed, Cyril quickly recovered and was well enough to return home to Lesley and her son, Cameron, the next day.

Lesley added: “We were really worried about Cyril because he was so poorly, and needed a big operation. But I knew he was in the best place and would be taken care of. We were all relieved when we received the phone call to say the operation had gone well. I can’t thank PDSA enough for getting Cyril back home to his family.”

Every year, PDSA vets see hundreds of dogs who have eaten things they shouldn’t, including golf balls, tent pegs, rubber ducks and even knives, as vet David explained:

“As well as using their mouths to eat, dogs also use them to investigate objects. But in doing so they can swallow an item by mistake. This behaviour is known as ‘pica’ and can have disastrous consequences, which is why it’s important to keep small items away from hungry dogs.

“Cyril is just one of the lucky pets to benefit from PDSA’s emergency service which has received generous funding from players of People’s Postcode Lottery. Thanks to their support we’re able to provide thousands of life-saving treatments across the UK.”

As sentencing for animal welfare offences is due to be discussed in Parliament, RSPCA highlights appalling cases that illustrate the need for tougher penalties

A series of shocking cases have been highlighted by the RSPCA in a bid to show why tougher sentencing is needed for animal welfare offences ahead of a Parliamentary debate this week.

So far in 2017, the animal welfare charity has already witnessed horrendous acts of cruelty across England and Wales through its every day prosecutions work – from dogs being beaten, kicked, stabbed and punched, a hamster being fed drugs and mastiffs being neglected for months and left for dead.

The strongest sentence that can currently be handed down to a defendant under the Animal Welfare Act is six months in jail – but polling by the RSPCA has shown seven out of 10 people would like to see this sentence toughened up and longer jail terms imposed on offenders.

RSPCA chief executive Jeremy Cooper said: “We are only a matter of weeks into the year and already our inspectors have rescued animals from some horrendous cruelty.

“The RSPCA picks up the pieces of animal cruelty every day of the year – and it is through the prosecutions that we take that many of the perpetrators are brought to justice.

“At the moment the strongest sentence for animal cruelty that can be passed down by magistrates is six months imprisonment and a £20,000 fine – but this rarely happens.

“The strength of feeling behind a move to toughen up these sentences is huge – but at the moment the courts are limited by the law. As the Animal Welfare Act stands at present the courts are limited to a maximum 6 months prison sentence they can hand out.

“We were disappointed the Government chose to ignore the recent Select Committee recommendation to increase the maximum sentence for animal cruelty offences to five years imprisonment. This move would’ve brought our sentences in line with Northern Ireland.

“Our recent poll showed that seven out of 10 people want the Government to bring in longer jail time for the most serious cases of animal cruelty and neglect.

“The new sentencing guidelines are a step in the right direction but are confined by the sentencing ceiling in the Act. We would like to see a further review of sentencing under the Animal Welfare Act to allow magistrates to give stronger sentences to those guilty of the worst animal offences.”

Man from West Midlands who bred and sold poorly puppies to unsuspecting members of the public was also given life ban on keeping animals and £30,000 costs

A man who bred and sold sick and dying puppies to members of the public has been jailed for six months after being found guilty of a number of animal welfare offences following a trial.

Sean Kerr (DoB: 05/12/64) of Coventry Road, Bickenhill, near Solihull, appeared at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court for a three-week trial, starting on 30 January.

Today (Thursday 16 February) the puppy farmer was found guilty of six counts of causing unnecessary suffering to dogs and three offences of failing to meet the needs of a number of dogs.

As well as a six-month prison sentence, Kerr was disqualified from keeping dogs for life and ordered to pay £30,000 costs.

The RSPCA were alerted to Kerr in autumn 2015 after being contacted by a member of the public who had bought a schnauzer puppy from the farm which had then fallen ill.

An inspector attended the farm and spoke with Kerr, giving some welfare advice about one mother and litter which were present at the time.

However, when a number of similar reports were made to the animal welfare charity’s cruelty line in December, RSPCA inspector Herchy Boal launched an investigation.

“When more complaints started pouring in, about different breeds of dogs, we were immediately suspicious,” inspector Boal explained.

“Genuine breeders tend to focus on breeding one type of dog so it became quite obvious that there was something going on here.”

On 22 December 2015, RSPCA and police officers executed a warrant and removed 37 dogs and puppies, eight of which were found inside the farmhouse including a pregnant shih tzu, which was discovered cowering in a downstairs loo (pictured above), and a pregnant pug. The body of a dead puppy was recovered from a plastic carrier bag in the footwell of a van, parked at the farm (pictured below).

Twenty-nine dogs and pups were removed from sheds and stables throughout the farm and 27 puppies were later born in RSPCA care.

“The conditions these dogs were being kept in were completely inappropriate and inadequate,” inspector Boal added.

“The dogs were being kept in cold, dark, filthy conditions. They were on wooden pallets and sawdust with no real bedding – it’s not how you’d expect to keep dogs.

“Four dogs were locked in a room in complete darkness – three of them were pregnant. We didn’t even know they were there for the first two or three hours of our search.

“It was disgusting. They were absolutely terrified.

“All of the dogs were unhandled and we could clearly tell from their behaviour that they were petrified. The minute you touched them they froze.”

One of the dogs, Daisy, was found with an untreated, dislocated hip for which she needed urgent surgery. A pug called Doug had a painful skin condition and some of the puppies were born with deformities from bad breeding conditions.

“These dogs are just property, commodities,” inspector Boal says. “This is a business. They are shipped from one place to another, bundled together, mixing breeds and litters and ages. It’s the ideal place for disease and infection to breed and spread.”

On a whiteboard in one of the stables, officers found a whiteboard with instructions for the daily care of the dogs, including: ‘Keep puppies quiet, do not let them bark. Squirt them or use whip to crack in yard.’

Paperwork and receipts found at the farm tied Kerr to puppy sales and 17 mobile phones were also removed and analysed, uncovering texts from some of the unsuspecting buyers who had contacted the RSPCA after their puppies had, in many cases, died just days or even hours after arriving home.

Prison officer Anita D’Souza paid £350 for the West Highland terrier puppy she bought from the farm in December 2015. Just hours after arriving home to her new family, in Coventry, the tiny pup – named Riley – was dead.

“When I arrived at the vets with Riley staff told me they thought she had parvovirus,” Anita explained, “and that the kindest thing to do was to put her to sleep so she wouldn’t suffer any more. It was heartbreaking.”

Kerr was sentenced today but is appealing his conviction and sentence. He pleaded not guilty to a charge under the Fraud Act which will be heard at Birmingham Crown Court next month. (March)

Another woman is due to stand trial for a number of offences relating to the same address.

Most of the dogs rescued from the farm were fostered and all can now be rehomed.

It is to become illegal for breeders to sell puppies under the age of eight weeks under a move by DEFRA to try and reduce the harm caused by puppy farmers.

Breeders who produce three or more litters on an annual basis will now have to apply for a formal dog breeder licence in a move announced by environment secretary Andrea Leadsom.

Small, so-called ‘part-time’ breeders and commercial breeders will now have to meet the same criteria and in a further move, people who sell pets via the Internet will be required to adhere to the same licencing regulations or face a possible six month prison sentence.

Speaking about the change in dog breeding law, Leadsom said:

“Everyone who owns a pet or is looking to introduce one into their life will want to know that the animal has had the very best start to life. Yet for thousands of puppies born each year to irresponsible breeders, from smaller operations to larger puppy farms, their first weeks are spent in cramped and squalid conditions without the care and attention they need.

“That is why we are cracking down on the worst offenders by strengthening the dog breeding licence and giving councils the power they need to take action.”

The Dogs Trust veterinary director, Paula Boyden welcome the news: “As the UK’s largest dog welfare charity, Dogs Trust welcomes the government’s review of animal establishments licensing in England and the range of measures it sets out.

“We are particularly pleased that it will be illegal to sell a puppy below the age of eight weeks and that there will be tighter licensing rules which will require sellers of pets to display their licence when advertising.”

Kennel Club’s secretary, Caroline Kisko, said the change in law was a step in the right direction: “We are pleased that Defra will be taking forward proposals to ban the sale of puppies under the age of eight weeks by commercial third parties. We have called for a ban on third party sales, and refuse to register puppies being sold to third parties, but this new rule is a step in the right direction.

“We also welcome the requirement for pet sellers to provide written information about the animals they sell and for those who sell pets online to display their licence number.”

Battersea Dogs and Cats Home’s Claire Horton said: “It’s high time we put a stop to the many undercover backstreet breeders and large-scale puppy farmers that profit from their cruel treatment of these animals.

“No puppy should start its life in cramped, squalid surroundings, before being torn away from their mother at a few weeks old. So many owners buying their new pet would be horrified to know that this was indeed the case.

“Toughening the current dog breeding licensing rules and making it completely illegal to sell puppies younger than eight weeks old is a welcome first step and we now look forward to working with the government to see these plans be put into practice and progress further.”

Four people have been given suspended jail sentences for conspiring to defraud members of the public out of money as part of a major RSPCA investigation into the underground puppy trade.

Three women and one man were sentenced at Basildon Crown Court today (Wednesday 1 February) for their involvement in a puppy dealing ring, operating in Essex.

Teresa Wade (DoB: 4/5/59) of Ship Lane, Aveley, in Essex, was sentenced to a 21-month jail term suspended for two years, given a three-month curfew order and ordered to pay £500 in costs. She had previously pleaded guilty to one offence of conspiracy to commit fraud on 5 October, during a trial.

Victoria Montgomery (DoB: 5/12/61) of Melford Avenue, Barking, in London, also changed her plea to guilty part-way through the four-week trial. This week, she was sentenced to 14 months in prison, suspended for two years, and was also given a three-month curfew order and ordered to pay £500 in costs.

Her daughter, Roxanne Montgomery (DoB: 5/8/83) of Grafton Road, Dagenham, in London, and her partner Tony Hammond (DoB: 21/12/81), of Brunswick Court, Upminster, also in London, pleaded guilty to the same offence – of making false representations as to the condition of the puppies being sold, intending to make a gain – in July this year, before the trial began. They have each been sentenced to nine months in prison, suspended for two years, as well as ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid work each and pay £500 each in costs.

The country’s oldest and largest animal welfare charity, the RSPCA, launched a large-scale investigation into the breeding and selling of puppies in Essex in 2014 following a number of calls from members of the public complaining about buying sick and dying puppies.

As part of the investigation, police and RSPCA officers visited four addresses in Essex, London and Hertfordshire, and dogs were discovered at properties in Aveley, Essex, and Barking, London.

Undercover investigations found that two houses were being used as front addresses to sell the dogs from, while they were transported there from a travellers’ site in Aveley.

RSPCA inspector Carroll Lamport, who led the investigation, said: “This gang operated in an organised and professional way to dupe unsuspecting members of the public out of money.

“They were using homes to sell the dogs from in order to con prospective puppy buyers into believing that they were getting dogs who had come from loving, family homes when, in fact, they were buying pets who had come from a puppy farm.

“The dogs were being intensively bred on a commercial scale at a travellers’ site in Aveley where they were kept alongside dozens of other dogs and animals. Then, when it came time to sell the puppies for hundreds of pounds each, they were moved to a staged home in order to dupe the public into believing they had been brought up there as part of the family.

“Our investigations also uncovered that some of the dogs were being imported from abroad, including some which we believe were coming from Welsh puppy farms.”

When the RSPCA and police executed a warrant at the travellers’ site – and the two front addresses – officers found 76 dogs and puppies, including poodles, cocker spaniels and some of the popular designer crossbreed types such as cavachons, cockerpoos and golden doodles.

The dogs were seized and placed into the RSPCA’s care and a number of pregnant bitches went on to have 27 puppies in the charity’s centres. Of the 103 dogs in total, four sadly died, but courts ordered for the remaining 99 dogs to be rehomed ahead of the court hearing.

Inspector Lamport added: “Thankfully, it was a happy ending for most of these dogs as they went on to find wonderful new homes with loving families who will put their health, happiness and welfare above all else.

“Sadly, the same can’t be said for the unscrupulous dealers out there who want to cash in on the many families who go on the hunt for a puppy and will do whatever it takes to make a quick buck.

“Even for those dogs and puppies that did survive and go on to loving new homes, the troubles are not over for the animals or their owners. Many needed intensive veterinary treatment for ongoing health problems and some will require behavioural help to get them over their fears and anxieties.”

A hearing is due to take place on a later date relating to animal welfare offences.